


my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

by allweseeislight



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28103340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allweseeislight/pseuds/allweseeislight
Summary: After an accident, Josie relocates from her hometown of Mystic Falls to New Orleans as the newest member of the Mikaelson School, run by the eccentric Mikaelson Family. While there, she meets her new roommate Hope, the youngest Mikaelson, who may be just who she needs to get through.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 158
Kudos: 468
Collections: Going_classic_favorite, going_classic TVD favorites





	1. So Casually Cruel in the Name of Being Honest

**Author's Note:**

> This is a new AU I've been working on! Warning to you guys, this contains some heavy topics, I'll try to post warnings before each chapter though :)

Josie laid in bed, listening to her parents fight downstairs. It had been the same fight since the accident. Mom blamed her, Dad didn’t. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

“I don’t want to look at her right now,” Mom was saying, “I don’t care if it was a mistake or not, she should have been more in control.” She wasn’t wrong there.

“Care,” Dad said, “I know what happened wasn’t good. It was bad, actually. She acted recklessly, and without consequence, which is why I’m not rewarding her with this. In fact, this school has some of the best therapists in the state. They could really work with her and find out what’s going on.”

“What’s going on is that our daughter got angry for no good reason and acted irresponsibly. And now…” she trailed off, and the yelling turned to crying. Josie pulled her covers around her body, trying to tune it out. But as she turned, all she could see was her sister’s empty bed. She couldn’t be in this room. 

Josie moved her covers out of the way, and slid into some slippers. She crept quietly out of her room, and she saw her parents from the steps. Her Mom was crying on the couch, while her Dad had his arms wrapped around her. He murmured comforting words, and placed gentle kisses on her head.

“Mom? Dad?” Josie asked quietly. The tears and the comforting stopped. Her Mom pulled away, and stared at Josie with a stone face, “I just wanted to say-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Mom said, “Go back to your room. Now.”

“Mom can I-”

“Josette,” Dad said. His voice wasn’t mean, but it was firm, “Go back upstairs. Please.” Josie made one more effort to get to her Mom, but the woman just got up and left. She hadn’t made any eye contact with Josie the whole time.

“She hates me,” Josie said.

“She could never,” Dad said. He got up from the couch and went to the stairs, “She’s just angry. With good reason.”

“Are you angry?” Josie asked him. Her father bit his lip, and avoided eye contact, “Right.”

“Jo,” he said, “I can’t sugarcoat this for you. You really screwed up, there’s no changing that. And it’s going to take your Mother some time before forgiveness is on the table.”

“Yeah, I definitely got that,” she said, “Do you forgive me, Dad?”

“I love you,” he said, “You should get to bed. We have an early morning, remember?” 

“You’re not answering my que-”

“Stefan!” Mom called, “I need you.” 

“Go back to bed, Jo,” Dad said, “I need to go.” He went into the kitchen to join Mom, and Josie was left alone on the stairs, a feeling she was getting all too used to.

Going to the car in the morning was a quiet affair. Mom didn’t come to say goodbye, and Dad said nothing as he put her suitcase in the trunk, and got in the car. He didn’t break his silence until Josie opened the door to the back row.

“Hey, come on,” Stefan said, “Come sit up front with me.” Josie sighed and closed the door. She went to the front, and slid inside. She looked towards the window. She could see her Mom in the upstairs window, nursing a cup of tea. She made eye contact for about one second before looking away. Very typical of the last few months. Her Dad pulled out of the driveway, and once they were on the road, she lowered her window.

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked, “If it smells strong, your Mother and I got sushi-”

“No, I haven’t been outside in days,” Josie said, “I’m enjoying it.” Dad nodded slowly, before handing her his phone.

“Thanks, but the new school doesn’t allow phones,” Josie said.

“Not for you, for the car,” Stefan said, “It’s 11 hours, you can play something.”

“I’m not in the mood, Dad,” Josie said, leaning her head against the window. The wind was painfully smacking her face, but it was better than nothing.

“Josie, I’m sorry I was cold last night,” he said, “But it’s not going to be easy for any of us to move past this. I’m hoping that this new school will give you the opportunity to break these habits. Maybe make some better friends-”

“I like my friends from home.”

“You know what I mean,” Stefan said, “You were at a party with them the night that-”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Josie said.

“You’re going to have to eventually,” he said, “This school is going to be a new start for you, but this isn’t a vacation. You’re going to have to talk with someone when you get there.”

“Yeah, I heard you and Mom last night,” Josie said.

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop.”

“It’s not eavesdropping if the whole house can hear you,” Josie said.

“Yeah I know,” Dad said, “I’m sorry for getting loud, really.”

“Okay,” Josie said, not in the mood to talk about it more. As Stefan merged onto the highway, he nudged the phone closer to Josie, and gave her an encouraging smile. She shook her head and picked up the phone, choosing one of her favorite songs from his library.

“That’s more like it,” he said, ruffling Josie’s hair, which made her laugh. Her first laugh since the accident.

Josie had fallen asleep a few hours into the drive, and by the time she woke up, her Dad was pulling into the driveway of a huge building. There were two giant doors with an “M” insignia on both, and the garden in the front was filled with hydrangeas, azaleas, daffodils, and…

“Your favorite,” Stefan said, picking one from the front, “Gardenias.” He walked up to her and said, “I remember Mom used to put these in your hair when you were little.”

“That feels like a different life,” Josie said, taking the flower from him. She slid the flower behind her ear while her Dad got her bags from the trunk. As she waited for him, she looked through the window. The kids inside didn’t look miserable or anything. A bunch of children were playing around in the hall, while some of the older kids studied in the library.

“What do you think?” Stefan asked as he came back to her.

“It looks nice,” Josie said, “Lizzie would have liked it.” Her Dad gave her a comforting rub on the shoulder and said,

“Come on. Let’s get you checked in.” He handed her her backpack, and led her inside. As Josie slid it on, she looked at all the pictures on the wall. There were some of the estate, past graduations, and some of the Mikaelson family themselves.

“Did they found this whole school?” Josie asked.

“Indeed,” Stefan said, “It started out as reformatory, but has grown since to become more of a...rehabilitation. This will be good for you, I can tell.” 

“Mom probably thinks I should be at an actual reformatory,” Josie said.

“Hey,” he said, “Just give her some time. All that matters now is that you’re trying, and she still loves you.”

“Love is a strong word.”

“And yet, it’s how she, your sister, and me feel about you,” Stefan said, kissing her cheek, “Now, where to the office…” He was cut off when the door to the school opened. Josie turned and nearly dropped her bag at the sight in front of her. 

The girl walking in had long auburn hair that was flowing out of a helmet she was removing. She wore a tight black shirt with matching tights that hugged her curves in all the right places…

“Hope!” a voice bellowed, taking Josie’s attention away. She turned and saw a man walking up to them, the same man from nearly all of the pictures. Headmaster Mikaelson.

“Dad,” Hope said, “I didn’t know you were in right now.”

“I have a new student to welcome,” he said, “And as I recall, you promised me that you would be here when she arrived.”

“You said seven, it’s seven o’ five,” Hope said, “I’m not  _ that _ late.” Headmaster Mikaelson shook his head, and Josie heard him mutter ‘Teenagers’ under his breath. He regained his composure and said,

“When I ask you to be somewhere, I expect you to listen, okay?”

“Fine,” Hope said, “So where is he?”  _ He? _

“ _ She _ is over here,” Josie said, lifting her arm. Hope turned to look at her, and as they made eye contact for the first time, Josie did end up dropping the bag. There was a silence that followed, so Josie continued with, “Unless, I’m not who you meant…”

“No, no,” Hope said, “You’re José?”  _ Well this was awkward. _

“It’s Josie, actually,” she said. For the first time that evening, Hope actually looked embarrassed. She cleared her throat and said,

“Right. Sorry.” It was quiet after that, so Headmaster Mikaelson said,

“Come along Josie. Let’s get your class schedule. Then Hope can show you to your room.”

“Our room,” Hope added, “Which is starting to make a lot more sense now.”

“We’re roommates?” Josie asked.

“I’m the only one with a single,” Hope said, “In fact, I’ll take your stuff.” She grabbed Josie’s backpack from the ground and slung it over her shoulder, then took her suitcase. Josie looked unsure at first, so Headmaster Mikaelson said,

“It’s alright, you can trust her. Most of the time that is. Come along Miss…Salvatore, was it?”

“That’s me,” Josie said. She followed Headmaster Mikaelson down the hall, giving one last look to Hope, who was walking up the stairs with her stuff. She was taken to an office, where a woman was standing by a desk, reading through a file with “Josette Salvatore” written on the tab. 

She wondered how much about the accident was in there. It couldn’t have been a lot, considering the woman offered her a warm smile as she entered.

“You must be Josette,” she said, “I’m Headmistress Marshall, but you can call me Hayley.” Josie and Stefan shook her hand, and she said, “I see you’ve met Klaus.”  _ Klaus, what a name. _

“Uh yeah, I have,” Josie said. Klaus sat in the seat next to Hayley and said,

“You can call me your Headmaster, Mr. Mikaelson, the King…”

“You can call him Klaus,” Hayley said, cutting him off, “Take a seat, sweetie. We can work out a schedule for you based on what you took at your old school.”

“Sure,” Josie said, sitting down in one of the chairs opposite to Hayley. Her Dad stood behind her, gently squeezing her shoulders.

“Your course load from Mystic Falls High is impressive,” Hayley said, “You took four AP classes, as well as music.”

“She’s very talented,” Stefan said.

“I can tell,” Hayley said, “But there was a dip in your grades near the end of last year. Was there a reason behind that?”

“I just got distracted. It won’t happen again though,” she added.

“Hey, no judgement here, I’m just making an observation,” Hayley said, “You also dropped out of the school play? Why was that?”

“Acting kinda stopped being my thing,” Josie admitted, “I wanted to drop the music class, but they didn’t let me, so I dropped the play instead.”

“You didn’t want to play music anymore?” Klaus asked. Josie shook her head, “Well, if you change your mind, our music program has access to-”

“I won’t change my mind,” Josie said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“That’s quite alright, no hard feelings,” Klaus said, “Just know that program is open to you, if you ever choose to take it up.” Josie just nodded.

“I think we can place you in the next level for classes you were taking last year,” Hayley said, “But you’re going to have to retake pre calculus, your scores were...less than adequate.”

“Fine,” Josie said. Hayley typed some course numbers in, and she was soon handed a schedule with the Mikaelson logo on the top.

“What are the blue boxes for?” Josie asked as she looked it over. There was one on Mondays and Wednesdays after lunch.

“It’s required that each of our students attend two hours of counseling each week,” Hayley said, “And those hours are all yours to speak freely on anything you want. Our psychologist is one of the best in the state, and almost everything is confidential.”

“Almost?” Josie asked.

“If she receives warning that a student may become a danger to themselves or others, then she will consult with us, and we’ll have to call your Mother and Father,” Klaus said, “But that’s a rare occurrence. Most of your correspondence will be kept between the two of you.”

“Great,” Josie murmured. She looked back to the schedule and said, “What about weekends? Since there are no classes, what do we do?”

“Well, the whole campus is yours to explore,” Klaus said, “And after our students are cleared to do so by us, they will have sign out privileges. And those are given on any day, as long as you aren’t in class. You may talk to us about that in a few weeks, but until then, you’ve gotta sit tight.”

“And there are family visitation days once a month as well,” Hayley said.  _ That was okay. _ Mom wouldn’t want to come, Dad would probably lie and say that she was sick, and everyone would just be left in a bad mood. 

“Are there any other questions you have?” Klaus asked.

“Um, no,” Josie said, “Well, yeah. Where’s my room?”

“I’ll walk you,” Hayley said, “Your Father can come with us, and the two of you can say your goodbyes.” Josie nodded, and stood up from the chair. 

“It was a pleasure Ms. Salvatore,” Klaus said, “Come by anytime.” Josie gave him a small wave goodbye, and followed Stefan and Hayley out of the office. She found herself going up the stairs for the first time, then being taken to a door down the hall. Hayley opened the door, and while Josie expected to see a room, it was just another staircase.

“It’s my daughter’s room, too,” Hayley said, “She wanted the attic so she’d have some privacy from the other students. If you want somewhere else, there’s a triple-”

“The attic is fine,” Josie said, “But wait, Hope is your daughter, too?”

“Oh, I didn’t know the two of you had met. Klaus asked her to be here when you arrived, but she works on her own schedule, so I thought you’d missed her.”

“No, we met,” Josie said, “I didn’t know you and Klaus were together.” Her Dad gave her a glare, but Hayley just laughed.

“Hope is our daughter, and we run this school, but me and Klaus aren’t together.” Josie expected her to say something else, but she just didn’t. As Hayley went up the stairs, Stefan murmured,

“Sweetheart, don’t be nosy.”

“I’m not being nosy, I was just curious,” Josie said. Stefan shook his head, then nodded up the stairs. Josie continued up the stairs, and into her room. Her backpack was on the empty bed on the right, and her suitcase was on the floor next to it. The door at the side opened, and Hope came out. 

She was out of her biker outfit, and now in a jersey with a T-shirt underneath, and some shorts. Now that she was out of her heels from earlier, Josie really saw how short the other girl was. Josie was in flats, and she still had at least half a foot on her.

“Hey Mom,” Hope said, “What’s going on?”

“I was getting Josie checked in and was wondering if you could show her around. I know you can’t be having practice this late.”

“Sure,” Hope said, “We can go whenever you’re ready, Gardenia.” Josie had nearly forgotten about the flower in her hair. She blushed as she moved hair out of her face, covering the small flower.

“Well, I actually need to get going. I promised your Mother I wouldn’t get on the road too late,” Stefan said, “But if you need me to stay longer…”

“It’s fine, Dad,” Josie said, “You can go, I’ll be okay.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “One step at a time, right?” He gave her a hug and said,

“I love you, baby. Remember that, okay?” Josie nodded as she pulled away.

“I’ll remember,” she said, “Bye Dad.”

“Bye honey,” he said, “I’ll see you in a month.”

“You’re coming for that?”

“Of course I am. We’ll both be there, I promise.” He gave her one last kiss on the temple and said, “Be good. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“

Okay,” Josie said. Her Dad gave Hope and Hayley a polite wave goodbye before heading down the stairs. Once he was gone, Hayley said,

“Hope, I’m going to trust that you’ll make Josette feel welcome.” She then turned to Josie and continued with, “Sweetie, if you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks Hayley,” Josie said. The older woman gave her a nod before leaving her and Hope alone in the room.

“Are you ready to get going?” Hope asked.

“Um, just a sec,” Josie said, “I’d just like to unpack, if that’s alright.”

“Sure,” Hope said, “I’ll be waiting in the lobby downstairs. Then we can go.” She was out of the room before Josie could say anything else. Now alone in her and Hope’s giant room, Josie decided to take advantage of the privacy and look around. 

Hope’s side was filled with various soccer trophies, pictures of her with her family and friends, art supplies, some fairy lights, and clothes scattered everywhere. Josie guessed her new roommate wasn’t a neat freak. 

She didn’t want to be too nosy, not wanting to prove her Dad right, so she went back to her own side and started to unpack her stuff. She placed her schedule on the bedside table, then opened her backpack, dumping all of her notebooks out. She’d had a computer, but the school didn’t allow the students to have any technology, so it had stayed at home. 

Restrictions like that really had Josie wondering what kind of reasons kids were sent here. Considering they’d taken her after everything, that meant they had to accept a lot. That or her Mom lied about what really happened. There was no way she hadn’t, especially with how kindly Klaus and Hayley were treating her. 

She sighed and placed her notebooks on the desk. Dust flew up as they landed on the hardwood. Hope must have had this room to herself for a while. She wondered why she hadn’t done anything to the other side in all that time. 

The bed was unmade, but there were some sheets in a bag with Josie’s name on it. She didn’t want to keep Hope waiting for too long, so she decided to save that for later. Plus she had no interest in fighting with the fitted sheet. 

She instead opened her suitcase, where a family picture in bubble wrap was on the top. A picture she hadn’t packed. Her Dad must have put it in while she’d been asleep.

She removed the bubble wrap, popping some of it as she did, and was left facing the picture. It was from last Christmas. A few weeks before the accident. She ran a hand over her sister’s beautiful face. 

She was sat in the middle of their parents on the couch, while Josie sat in front of them, with her head resting on her Mom’s lap. She and her Mom had gotten in a huge fight that day, but they’d calmed down just long enough to take that picture for Lizzie’s sake. 

Josie tried to remember what it had been about, but she honestly couldn’t. It had probably been something dumb, anyway. It usually was.

Josie wanted to just put the picture back in her suitcase, but she didn’t want Hope to think she was weird for not having any up-Hope had several-so she finished undoing all of the wrap, and she placed the picture on the bedside table. 

She finished unpacking all of her clothes, stuffing them in the drawers across from her bed. She then removed the gardenia from her hair and placed it on top. She didn’t want to lose it while walking through campus. 

She grabbed a sweater from the drawer, and pulled it on as she walked down the stairs. When she got to the lobby, she saw Hope bouncing a soccer ball on her leg, not letting it drop once. 

“Hey, there you are,” Hope said, using her foot to stop the ball, then placing it gently on the ground “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Josie said, “So, what exactly does this tour entail?”

“We’ll have to leave the lobby to find out. Shall we?” She extended an arm out for Josie to take. Josie linked her arms with Hope, enjoying the feeling of someone close.

“We shall,” she said.


	2. A Fresh Page on the Desk, Filling in the Blanks as We Go

Hope studied her new roommate as they walked through the grounds of the school. She’d dropped her arm from Hope’s a few seconds ago, and now she kept her head down as she walked, and she took small steps.

“Everything okay?” Hope asked as Josie’s steps grew slower.

“Fine,” she said, her voice shaking as she talked. Hope frowned, giving her a better look. It was then when she realized she was crying.

“Hey, you good?” Hope asked, “Usually it takes people having an actual class here before the waterworks…” her comments didn’t help, because Josie started to cry harder, “Ah shit. Um…” she took Josie to the side and said, “We don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to, we can go back to the room. Or...I bet my parents will let you call your Dad if I ask them to.”

“No, I can’t call him,” Josie said, lifting her head for the first time since they’d left. Hope could see the remnants of tears, and her eyes were bloodshot, “That would just make everything worse.”

“I doubt that’s the case,” Hope said, “The two of you seemed so cl-”

“Just drop it, okay?” Josie asked, her tone clipped. Hope backed off and said,

“Got it.” She knew she was pushing a boundary by asking anyway. When her parents had told her she would be getting a new roommate, she’d kind of expected someone like Josie. She was like most of the new students that came to this school. Shy, with her guard up. 

Hope had tried to break it a bit with the José joke, but that had just made her look dumb. Her parents had asked her to be gentle with Josie and give her some time. Apparently she’d been through a lot. But Hope was nothing if not curious, so she’d tried asking. Clearly a mistake.

“I’m sorry,” Josie said after a few moments, startling Hope. She turned to the other girl, and saw an apologetic look on her face, “I wasn’t trying to be rude.” 

“It’s all good,” Hope said, “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“You weren’t,” Josie said, “I uh, I just really don’t want to talk about it, so…” 

“Then we don’t have to,” Hope said, “Let’s do the tour. I’ll show you the soccer field! It’s right over here.” Hope surprised both herself and Josie by taking the other girl’s hand instead of arm, but she didn’t object. She went to the field, where some of her friends were practicing.

“There you are,” Penelope said, “I thought you abandoned us.”

“Never,” Hope said, “Come meet my new roommate.” She turned to Josie who was standing shyly by the bushes, “Come on, they don’t bite.” Josie tentatively stepped forward, and once she was in view, Hope introduced her.

“Josie, this is Penelope, Jade, and Maya. Penelope’s mid field, Jade’s defense, and Maya’s the goalie. But I think she’s better on offense.”

“Excuse you,” Maya said as she moved forward to shake Josie’s hand, “I blocked three goals at our last game.” 

“Which is the exact number we scored while the other team got fifteen,” Penelope said. She shook Josie’s hand and said, “Ignore her, she’s cocky.”

“I’m not cocky, I’m a winner,” Maya said, kicking the ball right into the goal.

“If only you could do that to block,” Jade said, “Nice to meet you, Josie. Do you play?”

“Oh no,” Josie said, “I played on a community team as a kid, and I couldn’t even kick the ball. Me and sports don’t go together.”

“Bullshit,” Penelope said, startling everyone around with her bluntness, “Just try it.” She sent Jade to go get the ball Maya had kicked away, and Josie said,

“I’m wearing flats, though.”

“Just take them off,” Hope said, “It’s actually kind of easier. I do it all the time.” She winced as Josie made a concerned face, “Or, we could just go…”

“No no, it’s fine,” Josie said, “It’s just that...my Mom got me these…”

“I’ll keep an eye on them then,” Hope said, realizing that was the first time Josie had mentioned a Mother. That meant those shoes had to have some kind of sentimental value, right? “Nothing will happen to them.” Josie nodded, and slid out of her flats. Hope picked them up, and followed Josie to the field. Jade tossed the ball in the middle, and Penelope and Maya watched intently.

“Don’t get stressed out by them, Josie,” Hope said, “Just try.” She watched as her roommate rolled the ball under her foot, maintaining a somewhat balance. She then moved to kick it, but her foot missed it, and it rolled pathetically. 

“See?” Josie said, “No skills.” 

“Give it a running start,” Maya said, “That always helps me.” Josie skipped back from the ball, and Hope watched with apprehension as she broke into a run. 

She thought her roommate would miss the ball again and land straight on her ass, but this time, her foot actually collided with the ball, and she sent it flying. But not to the goal. It went to the side of the goal, right into someone’s coffee. The ball knocked the coffee straight out of the person’s hand, and they fell with it.

“Shit!” Josie exclaimed. The first time Hope had heard her curse.

“That was...awesome!” Jade exclaimed, “Dude, you’ve totally gotta try out!”

“Yeah, if she’s not expelled,” Penelope said.

“Shut it, Peez!” Maya exclaimed, “She’s not going to get expelled.” She walked closer to Hope and whispered, “She won’t, right?”

“Of course not!” Hope said, “I’ll take care of it. Josie, wait here.” She left the field, and walked over to the figure, who was pulling themselves up. She hadn’t recognized them from afar, but now that she was closer, she could.

“Hey Aunt Freya,” she said nervously, “You’ve got something on your shirt…”

“You don’t say,” Freya said as she wiped coffee off her face, “Hope, you and your friends need to be more careful when you practice. What if you’d hit me in the head?” 

“In my defense, I didn’t kick the ball,” Hope said, helping her Aunt up, “I’m showing my new roommate around, I wanted to see if she could kick.”

“Honey, have you ever considered giving a tour without checking their soccer skills?” Freya asked, “When you showed Maya around, the ball went through two windows. There’s a pattern somewhere.” 

“But Aunt Rebekah says I should always be on the lookout for new talent,” Hope recited from memory. Freya shook her head and said,

“She’s next on my list. After you.” 

“I’m sorry,” Hope said, “I’ll get you a new coffee!”

“How about you introduce me to your new roommate first?” Freya asked. Hope nodded and led her Aunt back to the field, where Josie nervously paced while Penelope and Maya were competing to see who could do more lunges. Jade was lying on the grass, obviously bored.

“Hey Ms. Mikaelson,” she said from her spot.

“Hi Jade,” Freya said, “How’s your paper on  _ Lord of the Flies  _ looking?” Freya doubled as both Hope’s Aunt, and the school’s English teacher. Jade blushed and said,

“Oh you know, it’s looking great.” Great being Jade speak for “haven’t started.” 

“I look forward to reading it Monday morning,” Freya said, and Hope held in a laugh at the panicked look that crossed Jade’s face, “Now, where’s the assailant who ruined my coffee?” Hope watched Josie shyly eye her aunt.

“Hi,” she said softly, “I’m really sorry. I can...pay for the laundry?”

“Oh don’t worry about it, I was going to throw this old thing out anyway,” Freya said kindly before extending her hand, “I’m Ms. Mikaelson, I teach English Lit.”

“I’m Josie,” Josie said, shaking Freya’s hand.

“Right, Josie Salvatore. I just heard you’d be joining my morning class,” Freya said.

“Aww damn, we’re all in the afternoon. Well, Maya, Hope, and I are. You and Jade can slum it together in the AM,” Penelope said. Jade responded by grabbing her leg, causing her lunge to fail.

“Ha! I win!” Maya said triumphantly. While Penelope scowled and dusted dirt off of her legs, Jade turned to Josie and said,

“I’ll save you a seat.” Hope watched Josie smile at Jade gratefully, and let out a sigh of relief at Josie getting along with her friends. Hope’s old roommate Dana hadn’t meshed with any of them, and luckily enough, she’d transferred after a semester. 

It had been Hope’s only experience with a roommate, and she’d hated every second of it, so she’d been nervous about Josie at first, but now that she’d met her, she had a good feeling.

“I’ll see you all there, then,” Freya said, “Josie, I’m going to assume you did as much of the summer reading as our friend Jade did, so why don’t the two of you work together on this assignment? Jade, I will give you until Friday if you help Josie out.” 

“I’ll take it,” Jade said, “We’ll meet Monday after class.” 

“Perfect,” Freya said, “I look forward to getting to meet you then. Have a good evening, girls. Stay out of trouble.” She left, and Hope was turning to give Josie her flats back when she noticed the confused look on her roommate’s face.

“What’s wrong, Josie?” she asked.

“Is your Aunt really not mad?” Josie asked. Hope laughed, not thinking Josie was serious, but stopped when she saw the pained expression on her face. She was actually worried.

“No, she’s not,” Hope said, “She’ll get annoyed when we don’t turn in our homework because of practice, but other than that...it’s fine Josie, really.”

“Promise?” Josie asked. Hope was honestly taken aback at how vulnerable Josie was acting right now. Her hands were shaking. Hope took one of Josie’s hands in her free one and said,

“I promise.” There was a silence that followed, and Hope wasn’t sure who was going to make the first move. Josie ended up going for it by quickly grabbing her flats.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “You guys play your game, I think I should go.”

“But you just got here,” Maya said. 

“I’m sorry,” Josie repeated again, for no good reason. She just turned and walked off, not even bothering to put her flats back on.

“Well that was...odd,” Penelope said. 

“You’re telling me,” Hope said. She kicked the ball around and said, “Don’t get me wrong, I like her and all that, but there’s something off.”

“Oh totally,” Jade said, “Did the ‘rents spill anything about why she got shipped here?”

“Nope,” Hope said, “Headmaster-student confidentiality. They said that she’d be a little guarded, but what happened just now was just...I don’t even know.”

“Well weird or not, she’s got a killer kick,” Maya said, “Literally, she almost took your Aunt Freya’s head clean off.”

“Yeah, she was pretty amazing,” Hope said as she bounced her ball on her knee, “But I don’t want to pressure her. She didn’t seem that enthusiastic.” She bounced the ball off her knee and towards the goal, “Actually, I think I should go make sure she’s okay.”

“You should find out her deal while you’re there,” Penelope said, “You know me, I love getting all the gossip. I’ve got this vodka stashed under my bed. You slip her some, she’ll sing like a canary.”

“I’m going to say no, and wonder why you haven’t been expelled yet,” Hope said.

“Please, your parents love me,” Penelope said. Hope shook her head and said,

“I’m not getting Josie wasted for gossip. Even I’m better than that.” There was a pause, and all four of them burst into laughter, “Oh who am I kidding, but Josie’s my roommate, so she gets more of a free pass. I’ll just ease her into it. It’ll all work out.”

“Girl, I do not care what her damage is as long as she’s good at English,” Jade said, “If my grades sink again, I’m on the bench this semester.”

“For real?” Maya asked, and Jade nodded, “I  _ told _ you not to fuck around so much last year. It always comes back to bite you.”

“Yeah yeah,” Jade said, “I’ll turn things around. In fact, let’s make a goal list. There, I started with mine. What about you guys?”

“Alright I vibe,” Maya said, “My goal is to block at least half the shots in every game. Pen?”

“My goal is to bed every single person that walks through the door of this school,” Penelope announced, and was met with a lot of doubt.

“Oh please,” Hope said,

“You wish,” Maya said with a scoff.

“You leave Salvatore alone, you might just get her to pack her bags” Jade said. 

“Each and every one of you is the worst,” Penelope said. She sighed and said, “Fine, my goal is to get Mikaelson to have some fun this year.” Hope frowned at her.

“What are you talking about? I have fun every year. I rode my bike ten miles out of the way this afternoon, a new personal best.”

“My my, call the police,” Penelope said, “You did fifteen last year, I haven’t forgotten.”

“That day was wild,” Hope said, “I can’t just do that again.”

“Well either way, it’s my job to give you a good time, which is my goal for the year,” Penelope said, wrapping an arm around her, “You had it a little rough last year. I don’t want that to happen again.” 

“Thanks, Pen,” Hope said. Her friend smiled at her and asked,

“And what, may I ask, is your goal?”

“My goal is to get Josie to open up to me,” Hope said, “ _ Without _ intoxication or any other efforts to get her under the influence.”

“Alright, fair,” Jade said, “Let’s swear on this.” They put their hands together in a circle and Jade said, “We hereby make these our official goals.”

“And all the best to make them happen,” Maya said.

“Amen,” Penelope said. The three girls looked at Hope, waiting for her to finish.

“We’ve got this on three?” she asked with a shrug.

“Lame, but I’ll do it for you,” Jade said, “One, two, three…”

“We’ve got this!” they all said, pulling their hands apart.

“Now I really need to go check on Josie, I’ll see you guys later,” Hope said. Her friends waved goodbye, and Hope ran away from the field. She entered the school building, quickly maneuvered herself around the primary school kids, and was headed towards the stairs when she crashed into her father.

“Sorry, Dad,” she said.

“That’s alright, love,” he said, “Where’s Josette? I thought you were showing her around.”

“I was, but she got upset and left, so I was just looking for her.”

“Well what’s got her so upset?”

“I’m not sure, that’s why I need to find her,” Hope said, “So if you’ll excuse me-”

“I do hope you’ll try your best to make Josette feel welcome. We don’t need a repeat of last year’s incident.” Hope glowered at her father.

“There won’t be a repeat. And I’ve apologized enough for it, when are you going to let it go?”

“Just find her, Hope,” he said, not even bothering to answer her question, “I promised Josette’s family that she would thrive here. Don’t make me break that.”

“I won’t,” she said. She pushed past her Dad and continued up the stairs, trying to shake his words off. What happened last year wasn’t important anymore. Her Mom and the rest of the family had forgiven her for it, and the school had moved on. Why couldn’t he?

_ Because it was his reputation that you ruined _ , the voice in her head said. She shook it off and climbed the second set of stairs to her room. She opened the door and saw Josie sitting on the edge of her bed. Her flats were discarded on the ground, and her feet were covered in grass and dirt. She had tears streaming down her face, and her whole body was shaking.

“Hey, are you okay?” Hope said, coming to stand by her. It was almost as if Josie hadn’t seen her before as she snapped back to reality.

“Oh I’m sorry,” she said quickly. Josie sure apologized an awful lot. She wiped the tears from her face and said, “I uh...I need to wash my feet. Where’s the bathroom?”

“Right over there,” Hope said, pointing at the door at the other side of the room. Best perk to the attic was getting her own bathroom. Well, a bathroom she now shared with Josie. But the bathrooms on the other floors served ten girls each, so they were living in style.

“

Right. Thanks,” Josie said. She grabbed a towel from her dresser, and slammed the bathroom door closed behind her, making Hope wince. Soon after, she heard the water turn on.

“Okay Josie,” Hope said with a sigh, “Whatever makes you happy.” 

Hope looked around at Josie’s things, fighting down her building curiosity to snoop through it all. She noticed a family picture on the bedside table, and realized that it was the only one Josie had. She saw Josie’s Dad, a woman she assumed was her Mom, and another one who looked to be their age. Maybe a sister? 

Hope was studying the picture when the water turned off, and Josie came back out.

“What the hell are you doing?” the other girl asked, startling Hope.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Hope exclaimed, “I was just looking-” Josie stormed over to Hope and snatched the picture out of her hands.

“Don’t touch my stuff,” she said angrily.

“I’m sorry,” Hope said, backing away. Josie was kind of scary when she was mad, with her nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. A very stark contrast to how she’d been acting at the field. Hope watched as Josie folded her towel back up, and was content with just watching until Josie turned around, glared at her, and asked,

“Can I help you?”

“Uh no, sorry,” Hope said. She backed away to sit on her bed, and watched out of the side of her eye as Josie put her towel away, then proceeded to put the picture in her dresser. Hope’s goal was going to be a lot harder than she thought. She was about to just change for bed when she saw Josie struggling with her fitted sheets. Fitted sheets just happened to be Hope’s specialty.

“Do you need help?” she asked.

“I’ve got it,” Josie said crossly. She clearly didn’t, though, since right when she tried to pull the sheet over one side of the bed, it flew off the other, “Dammit!” 

“Okay, this is just sad,” Hope said, getting up from the bed. She walked over to Josie and took the sheet before she could object, “Would you just let me help you?” Josie looked against it at first, but she eventually relented, “Here, take this side.” Josie’s stubbornness made the job take a few attempts, but soon the sheet was over the bed.

Hope left Josie to finish making the rest of her bed, and she was pulling pajamas out of her dresser when she heard, in a small voice,

“Thank you.” Hope looked up, and her eyes met Josie’s for half a second before the other girl turned away. She smiled and said,

“You’re welcome.” She grabbed the rest of her clothes and went into the bathroom to change. She went inside and saw that Josie had already placed her stuff on the bathroom sink. The whole room that usually smelled like Hope’s tangy cherry perfume, now had a sweet vanilla scent. It wasn’t too bad. She could get used to it.

After finishing in the bathroom, she went back into the room and saw Josie already asleep, but not soundly. She whimpered quietly, and she clutched her blanket close, almost like she was shivering. 

Hope grabbed one of her extra blankets and walked over to Josie’s bed, covering her with it. The girl stopped shaking for a bit, and Hope thought she was about to wake up when her body relaxed again. She snuggled against the blanket and was soon asleep.

“Goodnight, roomie,” Hope said, jumping on her bed. She of course got no response, but Josie was sleeping peacefully now. That definitely had to mean something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this one! The rest of Hope's family will be making appearances soon :)
> 
> Twitter: @wandashosie


	3. I Was Thinking that You Could Be Trusted

Josie’s first class ever happened to be English with Ms. Mikaelson. When she entered the classroom, the woman offered her a warm smile before telling her she could take any seat. Josie saw Jade waving her over, so she went to sit with her.

“Hey new girl,” Jade said, “How was your Sunday?”

“Uh fine,” Josie said, “I just stayed in my room mostly, and unpacked.” Hope had gone to a six hour soccer practice, so Josie had spent her day alone, enjoying some quiet. 

She hadn’t really gotten a chance to explore the school, since hitting Hope’s Aunt had made her too distraught to continue Hope’s tour, so she would have gotten lost had Hayley not shown her the way. 

Both Klaus and Hayley just seemed to be around, ready to help any students who needed them. Josie wasn’t that close to either of them, but she knew Hope was lucky they were her parents. They really seemed to care.

“So I have soccer practice once classes are out, but could we meet at the library around seven?” Jade asked, breaking her thoughts.

“Huh?” Josie asked.

“For the  _ Lord of the Flies  _ paper,” Jade added, and Josie nodded.

“Right right. Yeah, seven is fine,” she said as she opened her notebook, writing the time at the top so she’d remember.

“So, what do you think about Hope?” Jade ended up asking.

“Hope?” Jade nodded, “She’s nice, I guess.” She’d given Josie an extra blanket which had been nice, but other than that, they weren’t that close. 

“Have you thought more about joining the soccer team? We still need a sub.”

“That’s okay,” Josie said. She wasn’t really there to make friends. Joining a sports team defeated that purpose.

“You should think about it. Subs rarely play. Plus, you can put it on a college app.”  _ Oh yeah. College.  _ Josie tried not to think too much about her future. It just...didn’t seem possible anymore. 

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” Josie said. She looked back to the front of the room, where Ms. Mikaelson was closing the door. 

“Who’s ready to get started?” the woman asked. She got a harmony of groans in response, “Oh c’mon, you’ve gotta be at least a little excited. Let’s go around, how was everyone’s summers? Jade, what were you up to?”

“You know me,” Jade said, “I did my shooting drills, saw my grandparents. What about you, Ms. Mikaelson? Any fun plans?” Josie was surprised at how colloquial Jade was with her teachers. No one really had that relationship with the ones at Mystic Falls High. All the students goaded Ms. Mikaelson to answer, and the woman blushed before saying,

“Well, since all of you are so curious,” Ms. Mikaelson said, “Someone asked me a very important question…” she pulled her hand out from behind her back, “And I had to say yes!” Josie’s eyes widened at the massive ring on her finger. She definitely hadn’t been wearing that last night. 

“When’s the wedding?” a boy in the front asked.

“Over Christmas break,” Ms. Mikaelson answered, allowing the students near the front to look at her ring, “And, since you guys helped her with the proposal, you’re all invited. Including our new friend who is joining us this year.” She smiled at Josie as she said that, which caused the whole class to turn to look her way.  _ Shit. _ If there was one thing Josie hated, it was attention.

“Um…” she said, “Yeah, I guess.” She didn’t really expect to be invited to her teacher’s wedding on her first day at a new school, but hey, at least she was making a good first impression.

“Class, this is Josie Salvatore, she’ll be joining us this year,” Ms. Mikaelson said, “Josie, have you read  _ Lord of the Flies  _ before?”

“Yes ma’am,” she said, “I have.” 

“Excellent,” Ms. Mikaelson said, and Josie was kind of surprised at how easily she shifted from something as exciting as an engagement back to their summer reading, “So tell me. What was the significance of the plane crash on the island?”

“I am so sorry,” Jade whispered, “She’s always rough on the new kids.”

“It’s okay,” Josie said shyly. She actually knew this. Her Dad loved classic books, and when she and Lizzie had read the book in ninth grade two years ago, he’d been obsessed. He’d “help” them with their homework by giving them his analysis of the book. It got annoying sometimes, but hey, at least she’d gotten an A in the class. 

“The plane is like a knife,” Josie said, “A knife that cuts through a once untouched island.”

“Very nice, Josie,” Freya said. She turned to the board to write, “Now...who wants to tell me what allegory means…” as the other kids got a chance to answer, Jade tapped her shoulder.

“Nice job,” she whispered, “When Freya asked me to explain  _ Huck Finn _ , I was so off that she made me write a whole extra paper.”

“Ouch,” Josie said, “She could do that to a new student?” 

“Oh I wasn’t new,” Jade said, “I just didn’t read the book.”

“Did you read this one?” Josie asked, not really in the mood to write the whole paper for both of them. Jade beamed and said,

“Of course I did, Josette. You’ll see, I’ll write us a good paper.” Josie would have believed her, had Freya not asked,

“Jade, you seem talkative. Why don’t you explain the symbolism of the conch?”

“Oh fuck me,” Jade grumbled, and the whole class laughed, including Josie. She looked up at Ms. Mikaelson-Freya-, and was pleasantly surprised to see the woman holding in her own laugh as she tried to quiet the class down. 

“Not quite, Jade,” Freya said once everything was calm, “Josie, what do you think?”

“Control,” Josie said, “The conch symbolizes control.” Freya nodded, and as she went to write on the board, Josie saw Jade’s face redden, so she added, “But I don’t think Jade was too off.”

“Oh?” Freya asked, “How was she not?”

“Well, she said fuck me,” Josie said, “To fuck one self, you’re going to need a lot of control to make sure that your fin-”

“Thank you, Josie!” Freya exclaimed, right as Jade started to choke on the water she’d been drinking, and while she coughed, the whole class started laughing, “Everyone settle down!” Josie turned and saw Jade beaming at her.

“What?” Josie asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” Jade said, “You’re just...not half bad, Salvatore.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Three classes later, Hope invited her to have lunch with her group on the soccer field, but Josie had opted to eat inside. The new school was getting overwhelming, so she needed the time to herself. 

The cafeteria had a wide variety of options, but Josie just settled for a sandwich, and she was taking it up to her room to eat when she heard a beautiful sonata coming from a room down the hall.

She was intrigued, so she abandoned the stairs, and walked quietly, hoping she wouldn’t be heard. She peered into the room, and saw a man who’d been in some of the pictures with the rest of the Mikaelsons. He played gracefully, not missing a single note on what Josie recognized as one of Chopin’s hardest pieces. 

She was so enthralled in the piece that she didn’t notice him look up.

“Miss, can I help you?” he asked. Josie nearly dropped her sandwich from shock. He hadn’t even stopped playing.

“Sorry,” she stammered, “It’s just...that piece. I’ve been trying to perfect it for years. Well, I  _ was _ trying.” Josie couldn’t remember the last time she’d touched a piano.

“How far did you get?” he asked.

“The first line,” Josie admitted. She walked over to the side of the piano to point at where she’d stopped on the sheet music, only to see there wasn’t any.

“I stopped needing it years ago,” he said, closing the piano, “But only a budding music virtuoso could get that far in the Funeral March. What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t,” Josie said, “But uh, Josie. Josie Salvatore.”

“Elijah Mikaelson,” the man said, shaking her plateless hand, “You can call me Elijah or Mr. Mikaelson, either is fine. Will I be seeing you in my music class tomorrow afternoon, Ms. Salvatore?”

“No,” she said, “I’m not taking music this semester.”

“That’s a shame,” he said, “Why not?”

“I didn’t have time,” Josie lied, “In fact, I’m out of time now. I really need to get going.”

“Of course,” he said, “Do stop by if you wish to. You don’t need to be enrolled in my class to learn the stylings of Chopin.” 

“Sure,” she said, even though she had zero plans of coming back here. She was embarrassed enough about being caught, “I uh, need to go.” 

“Of course,” Elijah said. Josie quickly exited the music room and went up to her room to eat, the sonata still ringing in her ears.

Josie was kind of annoyed that her first day of classes included seeing a counselor. She knew it was part of the deal, but she wished she had a few more days to get settled in. Plus, the place was huge, and she got very lost on her way down from the attic to the counselor’s office. 

By the time she did find it, she was fifteen minutes late. She knocked on the door, and stood outside for about a minute before the door opened. The blonde behind it smiled at her and asked,

“Josette Salvatore?”

“That’s me,” she said, shuffling her feet, “Sorry for being late.”

“It’s okay, happens to everyone,” she said, opening the door wider, “I’m Dr. O’Connell, but you can just call me Cami.” One thing Josie noticed was that all the staff here was really informal. Everyone except Freya had told her to call them by their first name. Strange. “Why don’t you take a seat?” Josie sat down on the couch, and nearly got sucked into the plush cushion.

“Comfortable, right?” Cami asked, “We just got them new.”

“Yeah,” Josie said. They were almost  _ too _ comfortable. She was worried she’d fall asleep if she stayed on the couch too long.

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Cami asked, opening a folder, “I always like to ask everyone a few questions to get comfortable. What’s your name?” Josie frowned. Her name was written on her folder. Cami noticed this because she said, “Let me rephrase. What do you go by? Just Josette?”

“Oh, no. Most people call me Josie,” she said, and Cami wrote it down.

“How old are you, Josie?”

“Sixteen,” she answered, still frowning. Wouldn’t that also be in the file?

“What is your family like?”

“I have my Mom, my Dad, and my…” she trailed off. Cami stopped writing.

“What was that?” she asked.

“I have my Mom and Dad,” Josie said. Cami stared at her for a few moments, and right when things were about to get awkward, she went back to taking notes.

“What was school like for you?” Cami asked, “Did you have friends?”

“Yeah,” Josie said.

“Hmm, what were they like?” 

“Fun, most of the time,” Josie said. As she watched Cami write, she found herself growing more curious. Did she just write what Josie said word for word? Nah, she couldn’t be. She was writing way more than the short sentences Josie was offering. 

“Did you date anybody back home?”  _ Yes. _

“No,” Josie lied, answering after a moment of hesitation. It wasn’t like they were still together, and when they had been dating...she shook the memory away. Too much.

“What are your hobbies?” Josie a year ago would have answered with her usual singing, dancing, writing...now she wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t uh, I don’t really have hobbies.”

“So what do you do in your free time?”  _ Cry, sleep, repent, well, try to repent. _ At least that’s all she’d been doing for the past few months.

“I dunno, study and read, I guess.” Josie expected Cami to ask another question, but she just finished writing and looked up.

“Okay, thank you Josie,” Cami said, “Now that we’re done with introductions, why don’t you explain why you lied about some of your answers?”  _ Shit. _

“How did you-”

“I have your file,” she said, “It says here that you have a sister, and you hesitated when you mentioned your family. Then you hesitated again about dating. It just makes me wonder, you know?”

“Yeah, makes sense,” Josie said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied.”

“Don’t apologize,” Cami said, “This hour is all yours. You can talk to me about whatever is on your mind, but I think we need to establish a basis of trust. How does that sound?”

“Not too bad,” Josie said, “You really won’t tell anybody anything I say?”

“Not unless you say something that would lead me to believe you’re a danger to yourself or others. It’s just you and me here, Josie. Really, the room is soundproof, no one can hear when the door is closed.” She pointed to the shut door as she said that.

“Really?” she nodded and said,

“Now, I’m gonna take a guess and say that things weren’t that great between you and your parents before you came here.”

“Doesn’t my file explain what happened?” 

“It does,” Cami said, “But I want to hear it from you.” 

“It’s a long story,” she said, “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Luckily for you, you don’t have to tell me all of it now, or at all. Just talk to me about what you want. Then we can work together in finding a solution.”

“My sister and I…” Josie said after a moment, “We used to be really close. But at the beginning of tenth grade, I started dating this guy from school, Jed. He was older than we were, and he was super popular, so I had no idea why he wanted to go out with me…

_ “Why is Jed Harker staring at you?” Lizzie asked as Josie sifted through her backpack for her history homework. She could have sworn she’d packed it. _

_ “Who?” Josie asked. _

_ “Jed Harker, the football team captain,” Lizzie said, “Look, he’s coming over here.” Josie felt her sister’s hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Jed, sweaty from practice, walking over.  _

_ “Hey, you’re Josie, right?” he asked, “You sang at the Christmas concert last month.” _

_ “That’s me,” Josie said, kind of annoyed that this boy was stopping her from finding her worksheet. If she didn’t turn it in, she was going to get detention! “I’m sorry, did you need something, it’s just that I need to find a worksheet, and-” _

_ “Oh yeah, of course,” he said, “I just got these tickets to the band playing downtown next weekend, two tickets, and uh, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?”  _ Huh?

_ “Wait, what?” _

_ “You covered them at the concert, so I figured you were a fan,” Jed said. A moment of silence passed, “Unless you don’t want to, which in that case, I can just-” _

_ “No no,” Josie said quickly. It had actually been kind of sweet of him to ask, “I mean, I really do love this band…” Jed smiled, and dear God was that smile pretty. _

_ “So is that a yes?” he asked. Josie gave one look to the tickets-front row-, then back at the boy who was giving her an almost pleading smile. How could no even be an option? _

_ “Yes,” she said, “I’d love to go with you.” _

_ “Great,” he said, “I’ll let you hold on to this. My number is on the other side. Text me your address, I’ll pick you up before.” _

_ “Awesome,” Josie said. Jed gave her a wave goodbye before going back to his friends.  _

_ “Holy crap!” Lizzie exclaimed, “Jed Harker just asked you out!” _

_ “Yeah, I guess he did,” Josie said, pocketing the ticket, “I wonder why he asked me. There must be a ton of other girls he could’ve asked.” _

_ “Who cares about that? He asked  _ you _!” Lizzie exclaimed, “Oh this is so exciting. You two will go out, he’ll invite you to parties which means  _ I’ll _ be invited to parties-” _

_ “I think you’re getting too ahead of yourself,” Josie said. She would go to the concert with Jed, but dating him? That was too much. _

_ "I don’t know, Jo, I’m sensing good things here.”  _

_ “Yeah, okay,” Josie said, “Can you help me find my history homework? I’ve looked through my whole backpack.”  _

_ “You sure you didn’t leave it at home?” _

_ “God I hope not,” Josie said, “I’m on strike three with Mr. Williams. I’m gonna get stuck in detention if I don’t turn it in.” _

_ “Let’s go to your locker,” Lizzie said, “I bet it’s in there.” She took Josie’s hand, and they walked back to her locker together. _

“Jed seems nice,” Cami commented.

“He was,” Josie said.

“Was the concert fun?” she asked. Josie shrugged and said,

“I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t find my homework, so I got detention, then my Mom grounded me for getting detention. Jed was nice about it, though. He asked me out to dinner the next weekend, and it was fun. We went out a few more times before we officially started to date.”

“And then when you did?”

“I mean it was fun,” Josie said, “We talked about music, I went to his football games, he went to my shows. He was a good boyfriend.”

“Then why not mention him earlier?” Cami asked. Josie felt her lip quiver. She stopped it, cleared her throat and said,

“I think I’m done talking for the day.”

The rest of the session had been Cami giving her some ways to “expand her social circle” at the school. Josie figured she was doing just that as she went to meet Jade to write their paper. She entered the library and saw Jade sitting with her notebook, drinking a Mountain Dew.

She was dressed in a soccer jersey and shorts, and from the sweat that was still on her face, Josie assumed that her practice had just ended. Jade looked up and waved her over. Josie joined the other girl, who asked,

“Hey newbie, how was your first day?”

“Fine,” Josie said, “How was your practice?”

“Exhausting,” Jade said, “It’s like Coach decided over the summer that she was going to make everything two times harder. I’ve never been more wiped out.”

“Oh,” Josie said, “Then maybe we should work later…”

“No no, I promised you,” she said, “So I have the assignment sheet here. We can pick between two prompts. For the first one, we can-” Jade was cut off when Maya’s voice cut in.

“Hey, friends!” the girl said, “Whatcha working on?” She hopped onto Jade’s arm rest and took a swig of her drink. Josie tried not to gag at the germ sharing.

“Our paper,” Jade said, “Which prompt did you pick?”

“The second one,” Maya said, “I found it easier.”

“Found what easier?” Josie heard her roommate ask. She looked up and saw her walking over. She looked a lot more composed than both of her friends, but just as tired. Josie was kind of glad she’d said no to soccer. They all looked beat.

“The second prompt for your Aunt’s paper,” Maya said.

“Oh yeah, way easier,” Hope said, “You could find a whole argument on Sparknotes.”

“Isn’t that cheating?” Josie asked. Hope shrugged,

“Just put some stuff in your own words, you’ll be fine,” she said. Jade seemed on board, but Josie-for once-wasn’t on the side of the bad decision.

“I think I like prompt one,” Josie said, “It makes you think more.”

“Who would want that?” Jade asked, and Hope and Maya laughed, which made Josie feel pretty embarrassed. She sighed and said, 

“Never mind then.” She was copying down prompt two in her journal when Jade sighed,

“You know what, Salvatore? Let’s take a shot at prompt one.” Josie frowned and looked up, wanting to look right back down when she realized Hope, Maya, and Jade all looked guilty. She hadn’t meant to make any of them feel bad.

“I mean, we don’t have to…” she started, but Jade cut her off.

“Nope, we’re doing it. I’ve decided,” she said. She then took Josie’s journal from her and started to erase the written prompt, “Our prompt one is gonna be so good…”

“Jade, really. It’s fine,” Josie said, now feeling more embarrassed.

“Give it up, Josie,” Maya said, “Once Jade’s mind is one something, you can’t stop her.”

“It’s true,” Jade said, “Now...prompt one. Where do we start?”

Working on the paper with Jade hadn’t been too bad. Maya and Hope had stuck around, but they hadn’t been too disruptive. Maya had actually fallen asleep right after they’d started. 

Plus, Jade had shown signs of actually reading the book between now and class this morning, so Josie hadn’t been stuck doing  _ all _ the work. But, she had done most of it, so she was tired. Hope was in the shower, and Josie was getting under her covers, grateful for Hope’s extra blanket. This room really did make her feel cold.

She knew she needed to apologize to Hope for their first night, she’d been extremely out of line. But every time she tried, she got flustered, which was odd considering she’d been told earlier today that she needed to stop apologizing so much. But if she apologized, then Hope would ask why she’d gotten so upset, and then she wouldn’t have anything to say. It was just too hard.

The shower water turned off just as Josie was falling into a deeper sleep. She was nearly out a few minutes later when she felt someone shaking her.

“Go away, Lizzie,” she grumbled under her breath without even thinking, “I’m tired.”

“I’m not Lizzie,” a voice hissed. Josie’s eyes opened, and she saw Hope standing over her. Her wet hair was dripping on Josie’s shoulders, making her more cold.

“Hope?” Josie asked, “What’s going on?”

“Get dressed,” she said with a mischievous look on her face, “We’re going out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading! I have some fun planned for next chapter :)
> 
> Twitter: @wandashosie


	4. So I Showed Up at Your Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year lovelies! :)

Getting Josie out of bed had ended up being more work than Hope would have appreciated, but she eventually got her roommate out of a mess of blankets.

“I can’t go out,” Josie said, “I don’t have permission from your parents.”

“Please, like we’re asking them,” Hope said, “Look, every night they both fall asleep after curfew. They won’t even know we’re gone.”

“Hope, I don’t want to break the rules,” Josie said, “Just go without me.”

“We can’t go without you,” Hope said, “It defeats the purpose of showing you around town.”

“You can show me around town when it’s allowed,” Josie said, “Goodnight, Hope.” The other girl went back to her blankets, and Hope against better judgement, asked,

“Who’s Lizzie?” Josie’s face hardened, and Hope knew she shouldn’t have said anything, but her curiosity always won, “When I was waking you up, you mentioned a someone named Lizzie-”

“It’s not your business!”

“Was she the girl in your picture? In the middle?” Hope asked.

“You shut the hell up about Lizzie,” Josie said, “I said goodnight.” Josie got back under her covers, and Hope sighed. She’d clearly gone too far, again.

“Fine,” Hope said, “I’m still going if you change your mind. We’ll be at the market a few blocks away. You’ll be able to see it from the lights...if you wanna come.” Josie didn’t answer her. Hope shut the light off in the room and went downstairs, where Jade, Pen, and Maya were waiting.

“Where’s Salvatore?” Jade asked.

“Not coming,” Hope said, “We got into a little argument, not my finest moment.”

“Dammit Hope, what did you say to her?” Maya asked.

“Nothing!” Hope exclaimed, which of course, none of her friends believed, “Alright, I might have asked her about her family at home.” She was met with a chorus of groans.

“Girl, I thought you knew better than to do that after you made Wade Gardner run out crying when you asked where his parents were one visitation weekend!” Penelope exclaimed. 

Wade had been in their class until last year, transferring to a music school. Hope had asked the question innocently, but she’d learned not to do so after the boy had gotten so upset, that he didn’t come out of his room for a whole day.

“In my defense, Wade was always a cry baby,” Hope said, and her friends glared at her, “Alright alright, fine. I’ll apologize to her in the morning. Can we go now?”

“Fine,” Maya said, “But Hope, you’ve gotta learn that everyone here isn’t like you. They don’t have the family that’s always gonna be there.” 

“Maya…” she started, but the other girl just left the school, with Jade running out to keep up with her. Hope sighed, “Dammit.” 

“Come on, let’s get you a drink,” Penelope said, putting an arm around her.

“You think she’ll be okay?” Hope asked.

“Maya or Josie?”

“Both?”

“We can’t say,” Penelope said, “We just gotta support them, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Hope said, “Let’s go before we wake somebody up.” She and Penelope ran out of the building, letting the door quietly close behind them.

“To surviving our first practice with Aunt Rebekah,” Hope said as she and her friends toasted their beers. The guy who sold them knew they were underage, but they were regulars, so he just limited them to one drink, which was fine considering it was Monday, but sometimes on weekends they were able to sneak in two.

“And many more, amen,” Penelope said with a laugh. They clinked their bottles together, and Hope took a sip, letting the bitter liquid take over her throat. 

“How was working with Josie?” Penelope asked Jade.

“It was good,” she said, “Salvatore is good. I might not fail this class after all. I’m well on my way to achieving my goal.”

“I blocked six shots at practice, so you’re about to see me  _ thrive _ ,” Maya said.

“And I got you to come out tonight, so look at me go,” Penelope said to her, “How’s your goal?”

“Well, like I just told you guys, it’s not going well,” Hope said, taking another sip, “Josie’s different than other kids who go here. She’s closed off, sure, but not just that. It’s like she doesn’t want to let the world in at all.” 

“You sure about that?” Jade asked in a low voice, gesturing at something with her eyes. Hope turned around, and nearly dropped her beer at the sight of her roommate, standing near the opening of the tent, looking for them. 

She was out of her pajamas, and was wearing a bright yellow dress, with her long hair down and out, as opposed to the ponytail it had been in earlier. She’d really gone all out. 

“Jo! Over here!” Jade said, waving her over.  _ Jo, where did Jo come from? _ Hope was worried her roommate wouldn’t answer, but she still walked over. Maybe she liked to be called that.

“Hey guys,” Josie said shyly, “Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s all good,” Hope said, “Do you want a drink?” Josie eyed the beer and said,

“That’s okay, I don’t drink alcohol.”

“What about soda?” Maya asked, “They’ve got a good root beer here.”

“Yeah, I love root beer,” Josie said. Maya went to get it, and some silence spread over the table. It would be rude to talk about soccer with Josie who never played, so they needed a new topic.

“So…” Penelope said, “How are you liking New Orleans?”

“It’s interesting,” Josie said, “Back in Mystic Falls they would have music in the square like once a month. Here, it plays everywhere.”

“I know, pretty cool, right?” Hope asked, “My Mom got me my first jazz CD when I was four years old. I grew up with it.”

“It’s nice,” Josie said, “But I prefer the piano.”

“Hey, Hope’s uncle loves piano!” Jade said, “He teaches a class for it at the school. Are you in it?” Josie shook her head, looking down awkwardly, “You should check it out. That class is hard, but if you like piano, it’s cool.”

“I don’t,” Josie said quickly, which confused Hope. She’d just said she preferred it. The girl then stood up and asked, “Um, is there a bathroom? I just need a second…”

“Yeah, I’ll walk you. It’s a bit away,” Hope said. She got up from the picnic table and walked with Josie to the bathroom. Once they were alone she said,

“I’m sorry for earlier. I knew you were upset, and I kept pushing.”

“It’s fine,” Josie said coldly, but her voice softened as she said, “I’m sorry too. For our first night. I yelled at you, and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh that?” Hope asked, feigning forgetfulness, “Nah, you were all good.”

“I wasn’t, but thank you for lying,” Josie said, “I just really don’t like to talk about my family, so when they’re brought up…”

“Yeah,” Hope said, “I get it.” They walked to the small bathroom at the side of the street, “It’s right in there. I can wait for you here.”

“Thanks,” Josie said. She went inside, and while Hope thought she’d only be waiting for a few minutes, the time dragged on. She checked her watch and saw that twenty minutes had passed.

“Alright, I’m going in,” she said. She pushed the door to the bathroom open, and saw Josie right when she entered, crying at the sink.

“Hey,” Hope said, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Josie said stonily, “I’m fine. Just give me a few more minutes.”

“I’ve given you twenty,” Hope said, “And I don’t think you’re doing any better than before you walked in here. If anything, you’re worse.”

“I’m fine,” Josie said, clearly lying, “You can go now.” 

“If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to stay here,” Hope said, leaning against the door frame.

“I do mind,” Josie said, “Please leave.” Hope gave her a small smile and said,

“You don’t have to lie to me. I know there’s a lot that I don’t know, and I’m not asking you to tell me, you’re entitled to your secrets, I’ve got them too. But I really would like to be friends. And so would the others. And me and them...we do tell each other everything. And we’d welcome you, no questions asked. I can’t say I’m the same, but Maya, Pen, and Jade...they were sent here, same as you. It’s not my place to tell you why, but they’ve all been through a lot, and-”

“Have you?” Josie asked. Hope frowned.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” she said.

“Have you been through anything?” she asked, “Or has everything just been perfect for Hope Mikaelson her whole life?”

“The assumption isn’t fair.”

“Oh I know,” Josie said, “But I’m still making it. And you’re not denying it.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Hope said, “Which is fine, I mean we just met. That’s why I’m saying that we can try to be friends-”

“I’m not here to make friends.”

“Then why did you come out tonight?” Hope asked, “You seemed pretty content with staying in your room earlier.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to  _ you _ ,” Josie said.

“Well if you’re going to contradict me, then-” Hope started, but was cut off when she heard Jade’s panicked voice calling for her.

“Hope! Hope, we gotta go!” she exclaimed as she opened the door.

“What’s going on?” Hope asked.

“Less talking, more running. Josie, come on!” Jade said. When neither girl moved, she actually went inside, grabbed Josie, then grabbed Hope, taking them both out to the streets.

“What the hell is happening?” Hope asked as she shook Jade off of her.

“That!” Jade said in terror. Hope and Josie turned in the direction of Jade’s pointed finger and saw two angry looking men coming their way.

“Why are two men charging at us?” Hope asked.

“Maya kind of got into it with someone at the bar...we’re in trouble,” Jade said. The men were gaining on them, so she said, “Come on, come on!” Hope realized standing there wasn’t going to help, so she broke into a run after Jade, with Josie following.

“What did Maya do?” Hope asked as they continued to run. 

“Well she was asking for the root beer, and as the bartender was making it, one of the guys sitting at the bar made a sleazy comment, so Maya rightfully called him out, but unfortunately for her, he had friends, so Pen and I got her out of there, but the guys followed us out.”

“Where are Pen and Maya?” Hope asked.

“They went the other way,” Jade said, “They told me to get you two, then meet them by the bus stop, but the guys have us cornered.” She turned, and the three of them ended up hiding behind some dumpsters, “You guys stay here, I’ll check if the coast is clear.”

“No, Jade!” Hope called after her friend, but the girl was gone, “Dammit, Maya!”

“Hey, don’t blame her,” Josie said, which was nothing short of a surprise, “You heard Jade, that guy was being an asshole, she just defended herself.”

“Yeah, and now we’re stuck hiding behind a trash can.” Josie rolled her eyes, “What?”

“If you’re going to talk to me, and tell me that you understand, and that you want to be my friend, then you’ve got to see things from other people’s point of view.”  _ What the hell? _ Maya had started a fight with someone, and now they were all in trouble. How could Josie not get that?

“Jade is taking too long,” Hope said, “I’m going to look for her.” She left Josie behind the trashcan, and crept back into the street, where almost immediately, Jade came running past.

“Too late for peace, we gotta run!” the girl yelled. Hope turned in the direction Jade was coming from, and saw the two men, who’d brought friends.

“Shit,” she said. She went back for Josie and grabbed her arm, “Time to run!” She was glad when her roommate didn’t argue, and broke into a run with her. Hope had lost Jade in the time she’d taken to get to Josie, so she was just running blindly at this point. They were about to turn the street corner, when one of the other guys from earlier came at them from the other side.

“Um, Hope?” Josie asked.

“This way!” Hope said. She took Josie’s arm again and took her down the path to the right. She was gonna keep running until she saw a hose, “Wait, I’ve got an idea!” Josie seemed to realize  what Hope was thinking, because she smacked her arm and said,

“Don’t even think about it!”

“Do you want them off our backs or not?” Hope asked, moving to turn the water on.

“You’re gonna get us caught!” Josie complained, “What if the police show up?”

“There are no police around here,” Hope said, “How do I get this stupid wheel to turn?” She pushed at it harder, but it wasn’t going, “Josie, help me?”

“No way!” the other girl exclaimed. Hope glared at her roommate and said,

“You told me you were on Maya’s side. This is the way out of her mess, so help me.”

“You don’t understand,” Josie said, “I can’t get in trouble.” There was a change in her tone of voice when she said that. It wasn’t angry anymore, it was genuine. Hope dropped the hose.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “Come on, let’s go this way.” She led Josie through the alley, and made it to the other side when Maya, Jade, and Penelope rolled towards them on a cart.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Hope asked. 

“The guy from the beignet shop gave it to us so we’d leave him alone,” Maya said, “Hop on!” Hope got on the cart, and extended a hand to Josie.

“You won’t get in trouble, I’ll make sure of it,” she said in a low tone. Josie gave her a small nod, and took her hand. Hope helped her on the cart, and Penelope jumped off, pushing it towards the hill. Hope’s face paled when she saw the slope, and she nearly screamed as the cart careened down, Penelope jumping on from behind.

“What is the matter with you people!” Hope screeched. 

“It’s the only way we were going to outrun them!” Penelope exclaimed from where she was trying to steer the cart out of the way of some children playing.

“You couldn’t have gotten a taxi?” Josie asked.

“Oh please, there are no taxis here,” Maya said, “You’d have to go more into the city. This is a walking town.”

“Walking would be better than this,” Josie said, and from where Hope was holding onto her, she saw that her roommate's face was getting green.

“Just hang in there, Jo,” Hope said, “We won’t be on here much longer.”

“Holy shit they’re back!” Maya screamed. Hope looked up and saw the men running towards them. 

“And they’re not just there,” Penelope said. Hope turned and saw another group coming at them. They were about to be cornered.

“Hold on, ladies,” Jade said, “We’re going for a ride.” She pushed on the front lever of the cart, and the speed picked up.

“Oh my God!” Maya yelled. They were coming at those men at twice the speed. They would run them over if they hit them, which they realized because a lot of them got out of the way.

“We’re all gonna die!” Penelope yelled. 

“Yeah, and the guys in the back are still coming!” Hope exclaimed. And they were fast, and getting closer. The cart was off the hill, but it had picked up enough momentum to keep moving on the straight street. There was a man in the street putting up a sign, and a crowd of people waited around.

“Um, Hope?” Josie asked.

“Yep, I see it,” she said nervously, “Jade, slow down!”

“I can’t!” she said, “This is running all on fumes, baby!”

“Oh dear God,” Hope said. They were getting closer to the sign, and the people chasing them were gaining.

“What do we do?” Maya asked.

“The only thing I’m able to right now,” Penelope said, right before she started to scream. Hope, Jade, Maya, and even Josie joined in. As they got closer to the sign, Jade started to wave her arms wildly, telling people to get out of the way. 

“I’m gonna kill you, bitch!” one of the guys yelled.  _ What a bastard. _ Hope was starting to see that Josie may have been right. 

She turned to look at her roommate, hoping she wasn’t sick, but instead of a green face, Josie looked almost determined. 

She was holding on to the rail Penelope was dangling precariously off, and was pulling herself up. 

It happened in almost slow motion as Josie leaned forward, grabbed a pole from the side of the ladder, and slammed it into it. The ladder fell forward, with the guy on it grabbing the sign for support. The ladder fell behind the cart in front of the guys. 

“Nice job, Salvatore!” Penelope exclaimed from her wobbly post, giving Josie a high five that almost led to her straight up falling off. Hope and Josie quickly grabbed her, pulling her onto the cart.

“Thanks,” Josie said, “I hope I didn’t hurt that guy too badly.”

“He’s good,” Penelope said, “See, someone is helping him down.” The girls turned, and saw a group of people helping the man down from the sign. Josie let out a sigh of relief.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” she said.

“Oh yes you should’ve,” Jade said, “We might be home free ‘cause of you.” 

“If we’re home free then can we  _ please _ stop this thing?” Josie asked. Hope noticed her face was getting green again. Hope placed a gentle hand on her back, a hand she would’ve removed had she not seen Josie visibly relax as she took a breath.

“Almost there,” Maya said. The cart was definitely slowing down, but before it could, the cart hit a bad bump, and all five girls went flying.

“Ow!” Penelope exclaimed once they hit the ground.

“You okay?” Hope asked from where she was inside a bush. Her back was definitely going to hurt in the morning.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Penelope said, pulling herself up. As she helped Hope out of the bush, they both heard Jade grumble,

“I’m not.” They turned and saw her crushed under Maya, who was under Josie. 

“I feel fine,” Maya said, “I think Salvatore might have undone all the knots in my back.” Hope just couldn’t relate to that. She watched Josie roll off of Maya’s back, then Maya got off Jade. 

“Oh I’m gonna die,” Jade groaned from the ground, “Someone carry me, I’m not going to make it back to campus by myself.” Hope was going to go help her up, when a voice said,

“Well Jade, if you’re not gonna make it to campus, then you might have some trouble with the twenty laps you’re going to be running around the field tomorrow.” The girls turned to the direction of the voice, and when Hope saw who it was, she gulped.

“Aunt Rebekah,” she said, “What are you doing here?”

“Well you know me, I’m an adult, I have plans,” Rebekah said, “Though I feel like I should be asking you and your crew the same question.”

“We were just going for a walk...to look at the stars,” Maya badly lied. Hope sighed. They were all gonna have to pay for this at practice tomorrow. 

Well, the four of them would. Hope looked at her roommate, who looked absolutely terrified, and Hope held in a guilty sigh. She’d promised Josie she wouldn’t get in trouble, and yet…

“Who is your friend, Hope?” she asked, looking at Josie.

“My new roommate, Josie,” Hope said, then in a lower voice she added, “Look, Aunt Rebekah, you can punish us all you want, but can you please not tell Mom and Dad about Josie?”

“Hope, I’m your teacher, I can’t just let this slide.”

“Please? I promised her that we wouldn’t-”

“Hope,” Josie’s voice cut in. She turned and saw the other girl walk towards her, holding her head, “Hope, I really don’t…”

“Jo, are you okay?” Hope said. She was answered when Josie gagged, then ended up vomiting the contents from dinner all over Rebekah’s shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading!


	5. I Can Make All the Tables Turn

Josie shook in the chair outside Klaus and Hayley’s office. Her head was still pounding from that cart ride, and she was worried she was going to throw up again. She was already mortified from earlier, she couldn’t have it happen again. Her first week at this place and she’d already assaulted two of Hope’s Aunts. That had to be some kind of record.

“Salvatore, you good?” Maya asked. She was sitting across from her with Jade asleep in her lap. Penelope was on the ground, stretching her legs.

“No, I don’t think so,” Josie said, “I threw up on her shoes. If knocking coffee out of Ms. Mikaeslson’s hands was strike one, this is definitely two. I’ve been here three days, and I’m going to get kicked out, I just know it!”

“You’re not gonna get kicked out. People break curfew all the time, it’s fine,” Jade said.

“It’s not, though,” Josie said, placing her head in her hands, “This was a mistake. I never should’ve come out tonight.”

“Please, we’d be toast if you hadn’t,” Maya said, “Those guys were mad. I get kinda scared thinking about what they’d have done if they caught us…”

“What did the jerk say to you in the first place?” Josie asked.

“He made a comment about how I looked easy, and I rightfully got mad at him, which of course made him feel like the victim, so he got mad.” Josie winced.

“I’m so sorry, Maya,” Josie said. She shrugged.

“It’s fine, really,” she said, “You had my back out there, which is all that matters to me.” Josie offered her a small smile, that faded when the door opened and Hope walked out with her parents.

“Girls, you can head up to bed now,” Hayley said.

“Wait, we’re not in trouble?” Maya asked.

“No, you are,” Klaus said, “You broke our enforced curfew, caused a mess in town, and ruined my dear sister’s favorite pair of heels. My first move was a week-long suspension, but my daughter convinced me to show some leniency. The five of you will spend the upcoming Saturday cleaning up the streets you ravaged. And there will be no sign outs for the near future. Am I understood?” They all nodded.

“Good,” Hayley said, “You girls head up. Josette, could we have a word with you?”  _ Crap. _

“Yeah,” she said. They may have been asking, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. She got up from her chair and saw Hope give her a small wave before helping Penelope up.

“Goodnight, Salvatore!” Jade called.

“Goodnight,” Josie said before following Hayley into her office. She was also trying to figure out what Hope had said to decrease their punishment so much. She wondered if she was able to ask.

“When vomit is involved, I always have to ask, are you drunk?” Hayley asked as Josie took a seat across from her.

“No, I don’t drink,” Josie said.  _ Anymore, at least _ , “I just get motion sick. If I don’t listen to music in any type of moving thing...I just gets ugly.”   


“Alright, just checking,” Hayley said, “Look, I hate to be the bad guy, but I know you remember the conversation we had with your parents-”

“I do,” Josie cut in, “I meant to stay in tonight, but Hope asked, and I’m really bad at saying no, and going out seemed harmless, so I just thought…” she trailed off.

“Thought what?” Klaus asked. 

“Nothing,” Josie said, “I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“Oh we know,” Klaus said, “But just to be sure, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to make sure you don’t drive yourself mad with too much free time.”  _ Huh? _ He handed her a piece of paper and said, “This sheet lists our wide variety of extracurriculars. I’d like you to pick one.”

“That’s really okay,” Josie said.

“It sounds like a suggestion, but it’s really not,” Hayley added. Her voice sounded kind, but there was almost a scolding tone to it. Josie sighed and looked at the sheet. 

The school really had a lot. Gymnastics, tennis, glee club, archery. The only problem was, all of those teams were full. And everything that wasn’t sounded lame. Jazz band, acrobatics, ribbon dancing...not exactly her thing. Josie was going down the list when her eyes landed near the bottom. There were too left. Soccer or piano lessons. Oh how Josie would regret this.

“I can...I can play soccer,” she said. A surprised look crossed over Hayley’s face.

“Well, I bet Hope will be happy to hear that,” Hayley said, “I’ll add your name to the roster.”

“Great,” Josie said, “Can I go now?”

“You may,” Klaus said, “And as always, remember when we say our door is open to you, whenever you need it to be.”

“Thanks,” Josie said. She got up from the chair and left the office. When she finished climbing the several flights to her room, she saw Hope asleep in her bed. She was laying across the top of her bed, with her blanket laid sloppily on top of her. That bothered Josie, so she fixed it, placing the blanket over her roommate.

As she did so, she saw a picture of Hope and her soccer team. The woman Josie had just vomited all over was in the picture. Aunt Rebekah, Hope had called her. She was wearing a whistle in the picture, plus she’d threatened Jade with running. She had to be the coach. The coach of a sports team that Josie had just joined. This was going to bed bad.

“Jo?” she heard Hope mumble in her sleep, “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” Josie said as she sat on her bed, pulling her converse off, “Go back to sleep.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Mom…” Hope grumbled, clearly very out of it. Josie held in a laugh as she finished undoing her laces. She got out of her shoes and laid back on the bed. She’d lay down for a second before going to change. 

She was exhausted, and her head was still pounding. She laid back, looking at the ceiling. Hope’s breathing was getting louder, and instead of keeping her up, it was almost putting her to sleep. She was able to stare at the ceiling for two more seconds before it did.

Hope had been beyond ecstatic when she’d found out Josie was joining the team. So ecstatic that she’d bought her cleats, socks, shin guards, shorts, and an official Mikaelson School soccer team practice shirt. It all fit perfectly, but Josie decided that she didn’t like cleats. The spikes felt weird to walk on.

“How does it feel?” Hope asked as she skipped over to her. Hope looked a lot more comfortable in the practice outfit than Josie felt. She also had her hair in braids, as opposed to the ponytail she’d had for the past few days. It looked nicer, in Josie’s opinion. 

“Weird,” she admitted, realizing she’d left Hope hanging, “Do the cleats ever get more...steady?”

“Oh yeah,” Hope said, “They might feel weird now, but once you’re actually running on the grass, it’ll feel a lot better.”

“Great,” Josie said, still feeling very uncomfortable. Hope jogged towards the other kids, and Josie tried to run and keep u, but she nearly tripped, so she half jogged, half skipped instead.

“Gather around, gather around,” Hope’s Aunt was saying. Josie staggered to a stop next to the rest of the team, and was soon the center of attention as the woman continued with, “For everybody who hasn’t met her, this is Josie Salvatore. She’ll be joining our team this semester.” 

Josie got a few hi’s, but luckily nothing else. Rebekah continued with, “We’re doing passing drills. Everyone partner up. Hope, will you show Josie how it’s done?”

“Sure,” Hope said.

“Pen, be my partner!” Maya said quickly before Jade could ask.

“Fuck you,” Jade said, then grumbled, “Now I gotta partner with Clara…” she ran off, and Josie turned to Hope and asked,

“Am I getting in the way?”   


“No, it’s all good,” Hope said, “Jade’s just dramatic sometimes. Come on, I’ll show you what to do. It can be a little hard to learn how to kick with the cleats.” Hope took her to the side of the field, which was thankfully far away from everyone else. Josie had no desire to be humiliated. 

“Alright,” Hope said, dropping a ball in between them, “It’s easy. You use the side of your foot to kick, and we’ll pass it back and forth. Step back a bit. We’ll do a few passes, and when you get better, you can step back a little further.” She and Hope were definitely standing closer than everyone else. Maya and Penelope were almost on opposite sides of the field.

“Ready?” Hope asked. Josie nodded.

“Ready,” she said. Hope kicked the ball her way, using little to no force. Josie caught it with her foot, but stumbled forward instead of kicking it back. So lame.

“Sorry,” she said.

“It’s okay,” Hope replied, “You just gotta be quick with your feet, okay? When I pass it, you stop, then kick.” Josie nodded, and Hope passed the ball. Josie was quick to stop it.

“Awesome,” Hope said once the ball was caught, “Now swing your foot back, and pass it to me.”  _ I know how to kick a ball, _ Josie thought crossly, but didn’t say out loud. She kicked the ball in an attempt to pass it back to Hope, but instead she kicked it up, and it landed in the bleachers. Yep, definitely glad she hadn’t said it out loud.

“Sorry,” she said again, only to realize Hope was smiling, “What?”

“That ball just travelled at least twenty feet,” Hope said, “You’re about to be great on defense!”  _ Oh dear. _ The rest of practice wasn’t too bad. There was some running that tired her out, but it was to be expected of a soccer practice. Hope just said that she was lucky she’d missed yesterday’s practice, where she, Jade, Maya, and Penelope had indeed run twenty laps around the field.

“Don’t worry,” she’d said, “I talked to Rebekah and she won’t make you run. But we’ve gotta stay on her good side this semester. She’s made people run suicides until they couldn’t even feel their legs. People meaning me and Maya for that time we started a fight at a scrimmage game.”

“A fight? What was it over?” Josie asked. For the first time since Josie had met Hope, she’d seen it. Her lip quivered, her speech faltered.

“It was nothing,” Hope said, “Just some assholes being annoying.”

“How were they-” Josie had begun to ask, but Hope cut her off and said,

“I need to take a shower. Sorry, I can’t stand the feeling of sweat.”

“Right, sure,” Josie said, deciding not to bring up the fact that Hope had hung out with her and Jade for hours on Monday after her practice, where she’d probably been even more sweaty. 

Hope was still in the bathroom now, and Josie wasn’t sure if Hope was actually in the shower, or just locking herself up in the bathroom. No bother, though. Josie had to meet Jade to work on their paper anyway. When she came back a few hours later, Hope was laying in bed, listening to music. 

“What are you using to listen to that?” Josie asked. None of them were allowed to have phones. Hope pulled her headphones off and said,

“This Walkman. I got it a few years ago. You can use it to listen to cassettes.” 

“I didn’t know people still listened to those,” Josie said as she placed her backpack on her desk. She rolled her shoulders as she looked through her drawers for pajamas, not even noticing Hope coming to stand by her. She nearly screamed when she turned and saw her right there.

“I’ve got a huge collection,” Hope said, showing her a box, “And all the best bands, too. The Supremes, Queen, the Stones…” 

“That’s so cool,” Josie said, “I usually just listen from my phone.”

“I’ve never owned a phone, not once,” Hope said, “The one downside to going to this school for so long. But I’ve never felt like I missed out. I met Maya when she was seven, and we’ve been best friends ever since. She was always around when I needed someone to talk to.”

“What about over the summer?” Josie asked.

“Home phones,” Hope said, “Modern technology still has its perks.”

“Got it,” Josie said. She pulled the pajamas out of her drawer and said, “I’m gonna…” She pointed to the bathroom.

“Right, yeah. Of course,” Hope said. Josie headed towards the bathroom, and was closing the door behind her when Hope asked,

“Jo?” Hope had never called her Jo before. She turned and asked,

“Yeah?”   


“Thanks for coming to practice today,” Hope said, “You did great.” She’d done horribly, but Hope looked happy, and she didn’t want to ruin that, so she smiled and said,

“Yeah of course. I had fun.” That part wasn’t a lie.

They had to do community service on Saturday, and while Josie was glad this was a more lenient punishment, she was absolutely wiped out. Soccer practices were exhausting, and since she and Jade had done the hard prompt for their paper, she’d spent most nights staying up working. 

Since they couldn’t type it out, writing it had been a bitch. But it had been turned in, so that luckily gave Josie one last thing to worry about. Now all she had to focus on was picking up trash.

“This sucks!” Penelope exclaimed, “Saturdays are supposed to be my day off.” She’d been assigned to window washing, and was not having a good time.

“Would you rather be suspended and spend the next few days with your Mom?” Hope asked. 

“Nope, I guess not,” Penelope said, “But I’d rather sit in detention than be out here. It’s been an hour and I’ve already been bitten by three-”she swatted her shoulder, “-make that  _ four _ mosquitos!”

“I told you to wear bug spray,” Jade said, “You know they always come out when it’s warm.”

“Whatever,” Penelope grumbled, “Are you gonna help or not?” Jade was relaxing in a patio chair, fanning herself with a newspaper.

“I just swept the whole street!” she said, “I’m taking a little break.”

“You didn’t sweep anything!” Maya snapped as she came up to them, holding two brooms. She shoved the second one in Jade’s face and said, “You’re supposed to be helping me.”

“Ugh fine,” Jade said, dropping the newspaper. She stood up and asked, “Does anyone wanna switch?” She looked towards Josie and said, “A broom is a lot more fun than a trash poker.”

“I’m good,” Josie said. Picking up trash wasn’t too bad. The only problem was that people littered there way too much.

“Leave Josie alone,” Hope said, “You’d be done if you got off your ass for once!”

“Oh screw you,” Jade said, “I can do my own work. Right, Josie?”  _ Please stop putting me in the middle of this _ , she thought. Everyone was staring at her, so she said,

“Yeah, you actually did help a lot on the paper, so…” 

“See, Josie gets me,” Jade said. She took the broom and stormed off, with Maya following. Josie was worried the two of them would start to argue, but now they looked like they were just laughing. 

“They’re crazy,” Hope said as she shook her head, “Come on, let’s go this way. We’ll be done once we finish the next three streets.” 

“That’s fine,” Penelope said, “Leave me here...all alone…” 

“Shut up,” Hope said, and Penelope flipped her off. It made Josie laugh for about half a second. Then she remembered she had hours of picking up trash ahead of her, and the laugh faded. 

She didn’t mind giving back, but Penelope was right. It was near scalding hot. The sunscreen she’d put on beforehand felt like it was melting off.

“Jo?” Hope asked.

“Yeah, coming,” Josie said. She followed Hope to the next street, where she said,

“I’ll take this side, you can get the other.”

“Sure,” Josie said. She moved to pick up the trash, and was trying to grab a particularly heavy can of beer when Hope asked,

“So how was your first week?” 

“It was fine,” Josie said, “I uh, I really think I’m getting used to the new school.” She missed her family a lot, but it wasn’t like they wanted her around, so it was easier to be here in New Orleans. 

“That’s nice,” Hope said, spearing a coffee cup, “I remember when Penelope first came here-she came a few years after Jade and Maya-and her first week was rough. She told me that she planned on running away. She made it a mile before coming back.”

“Why did she run?” Josie asked. 

“She was different when she first got here. Her parents were having a hard time, so they kinda sent her here to get rid of her. She wanted to go back to them, so she left.”

“And then?” Josie asked.

“I told my parents, and they brought her back,” Hope said, “No questions asked.”

“Really?” Josie asked. Hope nodded and said,

“This school is a safe place, especially if you allow it to be.” Josie knew where Hope was going with this speech, so she finished it for her.

“Look Hope, I know you want to help me,” Josie said, “Though I can’t imagine why.”

“Josie I-” Hope started, but Josie cut her off by saying,

“I’m trying here, y’know. I don’t plan on causing more trouble, I’ll do well in my classes, and I plan on playing nice. You and your friends, you’re good people, and I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you guys more, but this isn’t permanent. I will be going back to my family soon.”

“That’s what Penelope said-”

“Yeah well I’m not Penelope!” Josie snapped, then winced when she saw Hope shrink back, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” Hope shook her head and said,

“You really need to stop apologizing so much. You haven’t done anything.”  _ Yes I have _ , Josie thought.  _ A lot more than you know. _

“I’m gonna keep going this way,” Hope said, “I’ll meet up with you at the end.”

“Fine,” Josie said. Hope picked up the pace and walked off, and Josie held down a guilty sigh. She hadn’t meant to offend Hope in any way, but it was the truth. She hadn’t come to the school to make connections, and she still had no plans to. 

_ Focus on the trash _ , she told herself. She continued picking up the small pieces she found, and when she went to throw her bag away, Hope was there to.

“There’s a lot of litter out here,” her roommate said, “It’s honestly kinda sad.”

“Yeah,” Josie said, “People should clean up after themselves.” She tied up her trash bag and tossed it into the dumpster, “I think Jade and Maya just finished the next street, I’m gonna go.” 

“Wait,” Hope said as she turned. She looked at her and asked,

“What?” 

“I’m the one who’s sorry,” she said, “For bringing up Lizzie on Monday.”  _ Oh. _

“Really Hope, don’t worry about it,” Josie said. She'd kind of apologized before. She didn't need to keep doing so.

“I am worried,” she said, “But I also know that it’s not my business. You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, I won’t get mad-”

“Great,” Josie said, “Then let’s just leave it at that.” She walked off before Hope could say anything else. Trash was a lot better than conversation.

When community service ended and she returned to her room, Josie immediately got into the shower. She was  _ so _ sweaty. When she got out, she saw Hope on her bed, reading a book.

“The bathroom is open if you need it,” she said. Her roommate didn’t answer. She’d been quiet with Josie ever since their talk by the trash cans, “Whatever.” Josie went to her desk to brush her hair, and Hope just continued to flip through her book. She figured they were in for a quiet night.

“Are you ready for Tuesday?” Hope asked. Josie frowned.

“What’s Tuesday?” 

“The first game of the season,” Hope said.

“I’m just a sub,” Josie said, “Jade said they don’t usually play.” Plus she was a pretty terrible player, so she knew Rebekah wasn’t going to play her. 

“You’ll play in this one,” Hope said, marking her place in the book. She placed it on her bedside table and said, “You’re going in for me.”  _ Huh? _

“And where will you be?” Josie asked. Hope loved soccer. Josie couldn’t imagine something that Hope would find more important. Unless it was an emergency. 

“On the bench,” Hope said. Josie frowned.

“Why?” Was Hope hurt? She’d seemed fine when picking trash. She watched her roommate get up from her bed, walking just fine, so that took the injury off the table.

“My parents wanted to suspend us for what happened on Monday,” Hope said, “I talked him down to community service, in exchange for me sitting out on Tuesday.” 

“What?” Josie asked, “Why would you do that?”

“So you wouldn’t get suspended,” Hope said, “It’s just one game, it’ll be fine.”

“No it won’t,” Josie said, “I barely know how to kick a ball. I made one shot during practice, everything else was a fail!”

“We have tomorrow and there’s a practice on Monday,” Hope said, “We’ll get you ready.”

“This is gonna be so bad,” Josie said. Oh what to do, what to do. Maybe if she “tripped” down the stairs she could injure herself…   


“The team needs you,” Hope said, “Without you, we’d have to forfeit, and that’s honestly worse than a loss in my book.” 

“But-”

“Just give it a try,” Hope said, “You’ll have Jade and Pen playing with you, and Maya will be at the goal you  _ don’t _ shoot into.”

“Shoot? I thought I was a defense player!”

“Well yeah, but you’re taking my place and I’m offense,” Hope said, “We really need more players…”

“I don’t think I can do this,” Josie said, “Why, why are you making me do this?”

“Technically, you signed up to play. You knew you would have to eventually.” Josie sat on the bed and sighed.

“I wish you would’ve told me about this earlier.” She’d had almost a week.

“I know,” Hope said, “I was worried you’d quit if I did.” Josie wasn’t allowed to quit, otherwise she’d be stuck in piano lessons, but she decided to withhold that information.

“I’m not going to quit,” she said, “I’ll uh...I’ll try my best.” Hope smiled and said,

“Awesome! You’re gonna do great, I just know it.” She then skipped over to her dresser to get some clothes, then went into the bathroom. Josie laid back on her bed, running a hand through her hair. Great was definitely out of the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys are liking where this is going! The soccer game is next, then we'll be learning more about both the girl's pasts :)


	6. Is It Cool That I Said All That?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Legacies Premiere Day!

Hope had promised her Aunt Freya she’d go dress shopping with her on Monday, but since she’d lost her sign outs, she’d decided to spend the time teaching Josie how to make a good shot. Her roommate was a terrible kicker, and she didn’t want people from the other team taking advantage of that. 

The school they were playing was ruthless. Hope would never say it out loud, but their forward Inez kind of scared her. She’d hit Jade in the head with a ball at one game, and the girl had been in the infirmary for weeks!

“Alright Jo, it’s just like on your first night,” Penelope said, placing the ball in front of Josie, “Except like, aim at the goal.” 

“And you have to get your shoes on,” Jade added.

“Ready?” Maya asked from the goal. Josie nodded,

“Ready,” she said. Hope stepped back to join Jade and Penelope, and watched Josie run to the ball. What happened next was a series of both funny and sad moments. Josie’s first five attempts at kicking the ball ended with her tripping on her feet and falling, then the sixth was a rather pitiful kick where Josie ended up kicking the ball back towards her face. 

“You okay?” Hope asked.

“Super,” Josie said, “Um, Hope. I don’t think this is going to work!”

“You’re not trying,” Hope said, “You keep kicking the ball the same way, which is why you always keep getting the same results.” She walked over to her and said, “You were able to hit the ball during practice, and during our tour, but not because you kept working yourself up. You just gotta focus on what you’re here to do. Let go of everything else.” 

“I’m not good at clearing my mind,” Josie admitted, “There’s always too much on it.”

“There doesn’t have to be on the field,” Hope said, “When I play, that’s all I care about. Nothing else has to matter.” 

“It’s different for you,” Josie said, “You love soccer.”

“Soccer is great,” Hope said, “But you don’t have to love it to have fun. And remember, we don’t have to win. Seriously, Maya’s in goal, we’re not going to.”

“I heard that!” Maya yelled from her post.

“No you didn’t!” Hope called back. She turned to Josie and said,

“Just try. No one’s going to get mad if you do.” Hope saw Josie’s eyes nearly darken at her sentence.  _ Shit, she’d done it again. _ Hope opened her mouth to apologize, but Josie spoke first.

“I’ll try,” she said. Hope gave her a grateful nod before stepping back. She watched Josie fix her eyes on the ball. She kicked her feet on the grass a few times, then she ran forward. Josie always needed a few tries, but she usually got it. Hope had faith. However, faith didn’t do enough. Josie missed the ball again, and landed badly on the ground. 

“Dammit,” Hope heard Jade grumble.

“She’ll get it,” Hope said.

“Not fast enough,” she said, “Why didn’t you tell us that you got benched?”

“I didn’t need you guys worrying about it.”

“Us or Josie?” Jade asked. Hope didn’t answer, “Hope, you’re being too nice to her. You know what happens if we don’t win this game.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I can do anything about it other than train Josie, but if I tell her, it’s just going to freak her out! She’s...fragile.”

“I don’t like that word,” Jade said.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Hope said, She sighed and went, “Josie is new here. And I’m supposed to make her feel welcome. Yelling at her kind of does the opposite.” 

“Then don’t yell at her,” Jade said, “Just don’t...coddle her, or whatever. She doesn’t need that.”

“But Jade-”

“I gotta get going, I’m about to be late for my session with Cami,” she said, “Just uh...just think about what I said, alright?”

“Sure,” Hope said. Jade walked off, and Hope went back to her roommate, who was still trying-and failing-to make a shot.

“Josie,” Hope said, “I don’t think you’re clearing your mind.”

“It’s not easy for me,” she said, “It’s stressful.”

“Then let’s work backwards,” Hope said, “What’s bothering you?”

“That’s way too much there,” she said, then backtracked by saying, “That’s not what I’m thinking about right now. I’ll just try again.”

“Fine,” Hope grumbled. She stepped back, and the next ten minutes passed just the same, with Josie failing to make even one shot.

“Hope! I gotta get going,” Maya said, and Penelope said the same.

“Fine, I’ll catch up with you guys later,” she said. Her friends left, and she turned to see Josie come up to her with the ball. 

“Soccer takes skill,” Josie said, handing her the ball, “Skill that I just don’t have. I’m sorry.”

“You’re giving up too easily,” Hope said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. She wouldn’t lie, though. Josie was sure making it hard. 

“Maybe,” she said, “I need to go, I’m late.” She left Hope standing alone with the ball, and no chance in sight of winning the game.

“You’re being too hard on her,” Cami said during their session as Hope poured herself a cup of coffee. Cami didn’t usually let students drink it, but Hope could convince her to make an exception on most occasions. 

“I absolutely am not,” Hope said, stirring sugar into her drink, “In fact, Jade thinks I’m almost being too nice. Josie is one of the worst soccer players I’ve ever seen. We’re going to lose tomorrow.”

“Don’t say that,” Cami said, “The team isn’t going to lose because you’re not playing. Remember, we talked about this. Not everything needs to fall on you.”

“But I’m the best one at getting the goal to the other side! Maya is average at best at being our goalie, she misses almost every shot.”

“Then why aren’t you working her to get better?” Cami asked.

“Because Josie is taking  _ my _ spot,” Hope said, “Plus, I never play defense, I wouldn’t know the first thing to tell her.”

“Okay,” Cami said, “Then let’s go back a bit. Why weren’t you honest with Josie about how important winning this game was?”

“I didn’t want to stress her out,” Hope said, “She’s very easily set off. You say one wrong thing and she just shuts down. Like Monday night. She came out to hang with us, someone mentioned piano, and she locked herself in the bathroom for twenty minutes.” 

“Then don’t mention piano,” Cami said.

“But what if I say something else that’s just wrong?” Hope said, “We barely know each other, I have no clue what sets her off.”

“Well that’s not your business,” she said, “When it comes to Josie, just focus on soccer. If she shuts down, you give her space. But if she doesn’t, just teach her how to play the game. If she doesn’t get it, work with her until she does. Can you do that?”

“Oh I suppose,” Hope said, “It would be easier if I didn’t have to worry though…”

“Josie’s a sweet girl,” Cami said, “Maybe focus on that instead of worrying about her all the time. I know that isn’t what she needs.”

“Yeah, I know,” Hope said, thinking about what Jade had told her, “I really like her, Cami. I don’t want to mess this up.”

“You’re not going to,” Cami said, “But I do like your segway. We’ve been putting it off for weeks, but we do need to talk about family weekend. He’s going to be there, you know.”

“I do,” Hope said, “My Dad was on the phone with his Mom. He’s going to come in the morning. Hopefully he’ll just take the money and leave.”

“And what’s your plan if he tries to talk to you?”

“Ignore him and walk away.”

“And?”

“And don’t try to start anything,” Hope said.

“An-”

“I promise you, there’s nothing else!” she snapped in annoyance. Camille gently took her hand, gave her a small smile and said,

“And remember that I am here for you. If you get upset, you come talk to me, okay?”

“Thanks Cami,” Hope said, “I’m sorry for snapping earlier.”

“It’s all good, this hour is yours. Have you spoken any more with your Mom and Dad about what’s going to happen?” Hope shook her head.

“Maybe a little with my Mom,” Hope said, “Dad is nice to me when we’re with other people, but he’s still mad, I can tell.”

“Your Father is a proud man, and what I can say without breaking our confidentiality agreement, is that he could never be mad at you. He was just disappointed, which he had a right to be.”

“I know that,” Hope said, “But it’s been months. He’s never stayed disappointed for that long before.” Cami gave her a sad smile and said,

“It was...shocking for him. He’s just taking some more time to process it, that’s all.”

“He doesn’t really talk to me anymore,” Hope admitted, “I used to have dinner with him and Mom on the weekends, but he doesn’t show up.” 

“I’m sure he has a lot keeping him busy.”

“I’m sure you’re lying because he’s your friend.”

“Hope-”

“Can you just be honest with me for a  _ second _ ?” 

“He loves you, Hope,” Cami said after a moment passed, “That is all that matters.”

“I think I’m done talking for the day,” Hope said before finishing her coffee, “I should work out to prepare for my nice evening sitting on the bench.”

“Oh cut the dramatics,” Cami said bluntly, “If you wanted to play, you should have followed the rules. Your actions do have consequences.”

“I know, we were literally just talking about them.”

“Stay out of trouble, kiddo,” Cami said, “I know your Dad’ll appreciate that.”

“Yeah,” Hope said. She tossed her coffee cup in the trash and said, “I need to get going. Are you coming tonight?”

“I’ll try to be there,” she said, folding up her book of notes on Hope. She stood up to get the door for her and said, “You just keep behaving yourself, alright?”

“I will. Thanks Cami,” Hope said, sliding her backpack over her shoulder. She left the office and went up to her room. She had her appointments after class since she never had the energy to do work after they were done. She needed to lay down for a bit before the game later. 

She opened the door to her room, and was surprised to see Josie gone, but not as surprised as the fact that her soccer ball was gone. She’d put it back right in it’s usual spot after practicing with Josie yesterday…

“Ball’s gone, and Josie’s gone…” she murmured to herself. She walked over to the window, and peered out. One of her favorite things about her attic room was that the window looked right out at the field. That was when she saw her roommate, taking shot after shot at the field. 

No official practice, none of Hope’s friends were there...she was just playing. As Hope watched her continuously approach the ball, she noticed small changes Josie added. She ran slower, she changed the amount of force in the kick. She really was trying. One of her shots nearly made it in.

“Not bad, Josie,” Hope murmured. She debated going out to join her, but she was worried the girl would stop with company, so Hope opted to stay in her room and wait for her. She waited so long that she’d finished all her homework, and she could see the sun slowly setting.

She looked back to check on Josie, and winced as Josie kicked the ball on the goal, and it bounced back. Just as she was worried Josie was going to get hit in the head, she saw perhaps the coolest thing she’d ever witnessed on a soccer field.

Josie got up on her toes, and used her left foot to twist herself around, almost like a full pirouette, and used her right to kick the ball. It went right into the middle of the goal.

“Holy shit,” Hope murmured. 

“What are you looking at?” someone asked, which made her scream. She turned and saw Penelope at the door, frowning at her.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Pen!” Hope exclaimed. 

“My bad, just came to get you for dinner,” she said, “But...what were you watching?” 

“Josie,” Hope said, “She made her first goal.”

“No way,” Penelope said, coming to the window. Josie had stopped now and was stretching her legs. She had really nice legs…

“Have you told her that our season will end if we don’t win?”

“No, and I’m not going to,” Hope said, “Look at her with no stress pulling her down. She made that goal like it was nothing!”

“And how long has she been at it?” Hope checked the clock on her bedside table and said, “Um...about three hours.”

“And has she made another goal since the one she just made?”

“I mean, I haven’t been watching the whole time-”

“Hope, tell her!” Penelope said, “The stress might actually help. If she knows there’s heat on her, she could be inspired to make a few more.”

“Eh, I’m just gonna go with it,” Hope said, sliding back into her shoes. She climbed down the attic stairs and said, “As long as she’s moving forward, we have a chance.”

“Fine,” Penelope said, “How’d it go with Cami today?”   


“We had to talk about Family Weekend,” Hope said, taking a plate from the stand. She handed another one to Penelope and said, “He’s coming.” 

“For what?” she asked in annoyance.

“He wants what he’s owed.”

“Your parents can just mail it to him,” Penelope said, “Why does he always have to cause drama?” Hope sighed,

“Let it go, Peez,” she said, “They’ll give him the money, then he’ll finally be gone.”

“If I see that motherfu-”

“Penelope!” Hope said, “Please. I promised Cami I wouldn’t start anything, and I know that applies to you guys too. If we see him, we’ll just ignore him.” 

“Fine,” she said, “Do you want the second half of this sandwich? I’m not a fan of turkey.” 

“Try and eat it, you should carb load,” Hope said, “Games in an hour, remember?” 

“Can’t wait to lose,” Penelope said, “Hey, at least if our season ends early, we won’t have to spend the semester running laps for your Aunt.” 

“You’re not wrong there,” Hope said, grabbing a water bottle. She and Penelope went to their table, and she asked, “Where are Maya and Jade?”

“They ate already and went to warm up. I wanted to keep you company, though.”

“Thanks,” Hope said, picking at her sandwich. Penelope nodded, and Hope noticed her leg bouncing up and down. That was pretty much how Penelope signaled that she wanted to leave, “Pen, you’re playing in the game. You can go warm up, too.” 

“No no, it’s cool,” Penelope said, “I like sitting with you.”

“If you keep tapping your foot, then I’m gonna slap you.” Hope said. Penelope winced and looked shyly down at her feet, “I’m serious, go. I’ll feel bad.” 

“You sure?” Penelope asked, and Hope nodded, “Awesome! I’ll see you there!” She grabbed her sandwich and ran out. Hope had felt okay about it at the time, but now she was lonely. She took small bites of her sandwich, not feeling well enough to get it all down. 

Her stomach was in knots. Her worries about Family Weekend were clashing with her worries about the game, and now she felt sick.

“Feeling green?” someone asked.

“You’ve got no idea,” Hope said, not even looking up. She heard the chair move, and since no one outside her circle ever sat with her, she had to look up. She watched her roommate sit across from her.

“What are you doing here?” Josie ate every meal in her room. Hope only saw her in the cafeteria when she was getting food. And even then, she usually only got a sandwich. She’d gone all out tonight with one of everything getting handed out. 

“I’ve been...practicing,” Josie said, almost like she was embarrassed, “I was just really hungry, and I didn’t think I had time to go upst-”

“It’s cool, you don’t need to explain yourself,” Hope said, “I’m glad you’re here.” A small smile spread across Josie’s face.

“Cool,” she said. Hope was glad she hadn’t asked ‘ _ really?’ _ She sounded sure for once. It was honestly pretty refreshing. 

“How are you feeling about the game?” Hope asked, “Exciting, right?”

“Not really,” Josie admitted, taking a bite of mac and cheese, “This game isn’t a huge deal, right? Like, nothing bad will happen if we lose?”  _ Nothing too bad, we’ll just be kicked out of the bracket and our season will be over before it even begins. _

“Not a big deal at all,” she lied, “Just the season starter.”

“I really am sorry,” Josie said.  _ Oh dear God. _ Just as Hope was about to explain yet again that Josie needed to stop apologizing, she continued with, “I know how much you love this game. I’m sorry you can’t play in the first game.”

“Oh it’s cool,” Hope said, “There’ll be...there’ll be other games.” 

“I know,” Josie said, “But since I’ve got here, you’ve been good to me. Like actually good. I haven’t gotten that kind of friendship in a long time, so it’s been nice.”

“Oh,” Hope said, guilt bubbling up. Good friends didn’t lie, did they?

“I actually took ballet as a child,” Josie said after taking another bite.  _ Yep, Hope could tell. _ “My teacher said that dance and sports were basically the same, you just needed to get the foot work right. But considering how bad I am at soccer, I don’t think she was completely right.”   


“No, no. I think she had a point,” Hope said, “My Mom put me in tap lessons as a kid so I could meet people, and I actually got into soccer from that. I did so bad at dancing, but my teacher recommended to my Mom that I do soccer instead because of how I could move my feet.”

“Wait,” Josie said, “ _ You _ took tap dance lessons?”

“What, you don’t think I can dance?” Josie looked like she was going to defend her actions, but instead she just laughed and said,

“Nope, I don’t think you can.” 

“I am offended!” Hope exclaimed, which just made her laugh more, “What?”

“Hey you said it yourself, you did bad at dancing. I’m just going with what I know.”

“You are so mean, anyone ever tell you that?” Hope asked. She meant it as a joke of course, but she still saw Josie’s eyes darken.  _ Shit. _ “Oh, I was joking, I didn’t mean that. I’d never think-” she stopped talking when a small smile spread across Josie’s face, “Jo?” 

“I know you were joking,” she said.

“Yeah?” Josie nodded, “Cool.” Hope took another bite of her sandwich, and watched as Josie drummed her fingers on the table. She didn’t look too nervous anymore, and Hope had finally been able to have a real conversation with her roommate. That was progress, right? 

“Um, Jo?” Hope asked, hoping the repeated usage of the nickname would be able to keep Josie calm. She looked at her and asked,

“What’s up?”

“Not much, it’s just that...I haven’t been one hundred percent honest about this game.” Josie frowned and asked,

“What do you mean?”

“This game isn’t as low stakes as I’ve made it out to be,” Hope said, “The first game in the season is actually one of the most important, because it puts us on the bracket. If we don’t make it on the bracket, then we’re kind of done for the rest of the season…” What happened next wasn’t what Hope was expecting. 

Josie just kind of stared at her. Her mouth was open a tiny bit, and it was honestly kind of cute. Hope tensed her body, waiting for her to speak, but her mouth didn’t get any wider. The silence was getting awkward, so Hope slowly grabbed a chip from her bag, and as she crunched on it, Josie broke the silence and exclaimed,

“Excuse me?!”

“It’s really not that big a deal-”

“Not that...not that big a deal?!” Josie asked angrily. She started packing up her stuff, and Hope asked,

“Where are you going?”

“ Back to practicing,” Josie said, “I’m not losing this game, I don’t lose.”  _ What did that mean? _

“Wait, let me come with you. I can help.” 

“I think you’ve done enough,” Josie said, “I’ll see you later.” She finished packing her food and walked away, not saying another word.

“Well. That could have gone better,” Hope said, taking another bite of a chip. 

The game was nearly over. Their team was down eight to zero. Jade had nearly made one, but she’d gotten checked pretty badly by a forward from the other team. Hope wasn’t sure why the ref wasn’t carding any of them. They were playing a lot harder than usual. 

The one joy Hope was getting from this was that Josie had actually improved a bit after Hope had been honest with her. Not a lot, but it was the small moves that counted. 

The ref blew the whistle, and the teams were back on the field. Hope watched the ball go into the air, and it landed right by Josie. Josie didn’t notice at first, but when she did, she ran with it as fast she could. Hope tensed, watching her go.

“Come on, Josie,” she murmured, “You’ve got this.” All her other worries were fading away. All she could care about was Josie and this ball. While Josie wasn’t a great shot, Hope had to admit that she ran pretty well. She was fast but also agile. Maybe something she learned in ballet. The only problem was that Inez was gaining on her. And Inez was not gentle. 

“Please don’t hurt her,” Hope prayed to whoever was listening. In a way her prayers were answered. 

Just as Inez was ready to check Josie, the girl did another one of her twirls that caused Inez to fall forward into the grass. But as Josie continued her turn to kick the ball, two things happened. 

For one, her foot collided with the ball, and it went into the goal, flying straight past the goalie. But as the scoreboard turned to 8-1, and everyone cheered, something else happened. Josie’s body did a whole 180, and when she landed, it was badly, and right on her ankle. Hope was pretty sure she could hear the bone crack from across the field.

“Well shit, Josie,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Family Weekend coming up soon! :)


	7. Twenty Stitches in a Hospital Room

When Josie was seven, she’d gone to the park with her Mom and Lizzie. Their Dad had gone on a work trip, so it had just been the three of them. That usually didn’t happen. Caroline was usually a doting Mother, but she’d been having some kind of crisis at work, so she’d stayed at a bench, and gave the two girls permission to play on their own. 

It hadn’t been allowed, but Lizzie still bet Josie all her Halloween candy that she couldn’t climb to the top of one of the trees. Josie, a sucker for peanut butter cups, had taken the bet. She’d made it up halfway before a branch gave way under her, and she’d fallen badly on her arm. Panicked, Lizzie had run to get Mom, who’d dropped everything to take little Josie to the emergency room. 

It was the most attention Josie had probably ever gotten in her life, which was why she felt so strange as it happened again. Hope’s Aunt, the Coach from the other team, Jade, Maya, and Penelope were all crowding her, trying to get a look.

“Josie darling, can you stand?” Rebekah was asking. She shook her head.

“I don’t think so,” she mumbled. The ref blew his whistle, and it rang through her ears. She used her arms to quickly cover them.

“Everyone back away,” Rebekah said to the other teammates who were coming over. Josie listened as footsteps faded, but there was a pounding of feet that was coming closer and closer. She wasn’t sure where it was coming from until she saw her roommate’s long, auburn hair, which looked like a bright orange due to the field lights. 

“What happened?” Hope asked frantically, “Josie, are you okay?”

“I’m just swell,” Josie said from the ground. She couldn’t feel her left foot, but hey, at least she wasn’t in pain.

“Back away, Hope,” Rebekah told her niece, “The nurse will be here soon.”

“But I wanna make sure-”

“Hope. Go,” Rebekah said in a tone that suggested she didn’t want to be messed with. Josie heard Jade murmur something to Hope, and she soon heard the girls walking away, but Hope still complained. 

“The nurse is on her way, love,” Rebekah said, “You just hang in there, okay?” 

“Thanks Rebekah,” Josie murmured, “I uh, I can’t feel my foot…”

“It’s twisted up badly,” Rebekah said, “But it could just be the shock. We’ll get you to the infirmary and they’ll check you out. Everything is going to be fine.” Josie nodded, then asked,

“So...did we win?” Rebekah laughed. 

“Don’t even worry about it,” she said. A nice way to say no. Josie heard someone else’s voice, and a conversation between Rebekah and the nurse started.

“Her ankle is definitely twisted, might even be broken,” Rebekah was saying. 

“Help me get her on the gurney,” the nurse said. Josie felt two sets of arms on her. One set on her arms, and the other gently holding her waist. She was hoisted off the grass and placed on a gurney. 

“How is your leg feeling?” the nurse asked. 

“The leg is fine,” Josie said, “But I can’t feel my foot at all.” 

“Let’s go and take a look then, hmm?” she asked, and Josie nodded. She was rolled off the field, and taken into the school, where a path was made for her to be wheeled into the infirmary. Rebekah went with her the whole way, and stayed as the nurse-Genevieve- looked her over.

“ I was hoping this was a sprain, but I worry it’s broken,” she said, “She’ll most likely need to go to the emergency room where they can do an X-Ray.”

“I’ll call my brother to bring the car,” Rebekah said.

“Of course,” Genevieve said, “Sweetie, I’m going to get you an ice pack while we wait.”

“Thank you,” Josie said. As she waited for her ice pack, she was met with the rude awakening of the feeling coming back to her foot. She whimpered as pain started to spread.

“Starting to sting?” Genevieve asked as she returned. Josie nodded, “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but that’s a good thing. It means no nerves were hit.”

“It just hurts so bad,” Josie said as Genevieve worked to remove her cleat. She winced in pain as the shoe was taken off, and nearly threw up as she lifted her head to see her swollen foot through the sock, “I think I’m gonna be sick…” 

“It’s best you don’t look,” Genevieve said. She placed the ice on Josie’s ankle, and it was soothing for a bit, but not enough, “Rebekah should be back soon…” 

“Oh, someone please just knock me out,” Josie said, clutching the pillow on the bed. Her foot felt like it had a pulse on its own.

“What’s going on here?” Josie turned and watched Hope come in. She looked a mix of panicked and annoyed as she looked around the room, “Are you hurting her?”

“She’s not hurting me,” Josie promised, not wanting the kind nurse to be yelled at. Hope didn’t seem to be in a reasonable mood.

“I’m gonna get a band to tie this around you,” Genevieve said, “I’ll be right back.” She went into her storeroom, leaving Josie alone with her roommate. 

“How are you feeling?” Hope asked.

“Awful,” Josie answered truthfully, “Your Aunt is gonna take me to the emergency room. I think I’m getting an X-Ray.”

“They’re gonna take forever, I’m taking you to the hospital,” Hope said. 

“What, you have a car now?” Josie asked.

“I have a bike, and it’s only a few minutes out,” Hope said. She removed the ice pack from Josie’s ankle, causing her to almost squeal, “Come on, let’s go.” 

“You’re gonna get me in trouble,” Josie said, “But if the doctor can give me something for the pain…” Hope nodded eagerly.

“Oh yeah totally. Come on.” Josie expected Hope to have some difficulty getting her up due to their  _ huge _ height difference-Hope was literally as tall as the seventh graders at Josie’s old school-but she was strong, and she easily supported Josie on the walk to the bike.

“Hope, my foot is feeling worse,” Josie said as Hope helped her onto the seat. At this point it felt like it was going to fall off.

“I know,” Hope said, “Here, wear my helmet. We’ll be there soon.” Josie fumbled with the helmet buckle, and was about to give up when she felt Hope’s soft hands on her chin. She watched her roommate secure the helmet around her and ask,

“That tight enough?”

“Uh huh,” Josie said. Hope gave her a tap on the head for good measure, then started the bike up. Josie wasn’t sure where to put her hands for support, so she settled on Hope’s shoulders.

“Don’t hold on there, you’ll fall,” Hope said, “Hold on to my waist. It’s very important right now that you don’t get hurt.”

“Oh, right,” Josie said. She moved her hands down, and wrapped them around Hope’s waist. She’d never been in contact this close with the other girl and it made her kind of nervous.

“Ready?” Hope asked.

“Yeah,” Josie said after an awkward moment of silence passed.  _ Dammit! _ She really needed to get it together. Hope revved the bike engine, and drove them away from the school. Josie hadn’t been expecting the bike to move so fast, so she tightened her grip on Hope.

“You okay?” Hope loudly asked over the wind.

“Yeah,” Josie said, “My foot just really hurts.”

“We’ll be there soon. Since we’re on the bike we can cut through here. It cuts the time down from ten to five minutes.” 

“Okay,” Josie said. Five minutes wasn’t bad, she could make it. Plus, her fear of falling off the bike was almost trumping the pain in her foot, so that kind of helped. She held on to Hope as tight as she could, and took a breath. She could do this. Just a few minutes. 

The next four and a half minutes were the most tumultuous of Josie’s life, and she was one hundred percent sure that she was going to throw up when Hope pulled into the entrance for the emergency room. 

“We’ve made it!” Hope said as she stopped the bike. Josie ended up letting go of Hope, collapsing onto the ground, and throwing up all over the bushes, “Ah shit.”

“Sorry,” Josie said, beyond embarrassed that she’d now managed to throw up two times in front of Hope.

“Hey, all good,” Hope said, “Come on, let’s get you checked in.” Josie felt Hope gently take her shoulders, and she was pulled up from the ground. Hope led her into the emergency room, which luckily wasn’t too busy, and helped her sit down.

“I’ll talk to one of the nurses. Shouldn’t be much longer now…” Josie waited in the chair, and watched Hope talk with the nurse. They seemed to be in some kind of argument because Josie hadn’t brought any form of ID with her. 

“Is she a minor?” the nurse asked, and Hope nodded, “She shouldn’t be here without an adult.”

“Are you for real?” Hope asked angrily, “She’s in pain! She needs help!”

“Young lady, I understand your concern, but it is against hospital conduct-”

“No, you  _ don’t _ understand,” Hope said, “My friend is in a lot of pain, and she needs to see a doctor to get an X-ray! Her ankle may be broken!”

“Miss, your friend is not top priority,” the nurse calmly explained. As annoyed Josie was with the woman, she also felt some admiration at how calm she was acting towards Hope’s harsh demeanor. If anyone stared at Josie like that, she’d back down so fast, “We have other patients who we need to see. You’re going to have to wait for an adult.”

“But the adults won’t be here for a long-” Hope started, but was interrupted when a doctor came through a door near the back, asking about the commotion.

“The Little Miss here is quite impatient,” the nurse said, giving Hope a glare, “She wants to check her friend in, but they’re both under eighteen without an adult.”

“It is protocol that an adult check in anyone under the age of eighteen, for legal purposes,” the doctor said, with the nurse nodding in agreement. Josie sighed from her spot on the chair. The two of them really should have waited. Rebekah and Klaus would have been able to check her in with no issue. 

She made eye contact with the doctor who was talking to Hope, and quickly turned away as the woman began to smile at her. The attention was starting to get annoying.

“Tell you what,” the doctor said, “Why don’t you sit with your friend, and I’ll see what we can do.”  _ Well that sounded promising. _

“Fine,” Hope said. She turned around, but then went back to the nurse and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“Oh, that’s alright,” the nurse said, taken aback. Josie was too. Hope’s mood really could change as fast as a finger snapped sometimes. Hope gave her a small nod, then went back to sit with Josie.

“How’s the ankle?” she asked her.

“Terrible,” Josie said. She’d been focusing on Hope so long that her foot had kind of taken the backseat. Now it was all she could think about.

“Just breathe,” Hope said, “When I first started to play, I twisted my own ankle pretty badly at practice one day. You just gotta take your mind off it. Like this.” She started to breathe really fast, then gave Josie a nod to breathe with her, but instead she said,

“Hope, I broke my ankle, I’m not having a baby!”

“I’m sorry! I haven’t really been to a hospital in a while and last time I was there, somebody was breathing like this to stop pain.”

“Was that person pregnant?”

“I mean I guess, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions!” Hope said, and Josie would have laughed, but a giant rush of pain was now going through her ankle.

“Oh I think this is the end,” Josie said, putting her head in her hands.

“Not yet,” Hope said, “Come on, you can do it. Deep breaths.” She started the fast breathing again, and Josie peeked out from her hands to say,

“I’m gonna kill you if you don’t stop that.”

“Does it at least distract you?” Josie blushed.

“Maybe a little bit.” Hope continued to breathe, and Josie decided to humor her by joining in. People were giving them weird looks, but right now, she really didn’t mind.

“Miss?” the doctor from earlier asked. She walked up to her and Hope and said, “You can come on back now. We’ll get you with the radiologist.”  _ Oh thank God. _

“Thank you,” Josie said out loud. Luckily for her, they brought her a wheelchair, and she was able to get rolled back into the ER. Hope came with her, which she was grateful for. She hated hospitals. Especially considering last time she’d been in one…

“Do you mind if I take a look before you get the X-ray?” the doctor asked as Josie was taken into a room. She shook her head, and allowed the doctor to remove the sock on her foot. She nearly threw up again at the sight of her red, swollen foot.

“You got hurt pretty bad,” she commented, “What sport were you playing?” Josie had nearly forgotten that she was still in her jersey.

“Soccer,” she said, “First time too. I fell after a kick.” 

“It was an amazing kick, though,” Hope added in. Josie frowned.  _ Really? _ She’d thought it had been terrible, much like the rest of her performance in that game.

“I used to play soccer back in the day,” the doctor said as she moved her hand down Josie’s foot, pressing against the bone gently with gloved hands, “I wasn’t any good, though.”

“Me neither,” Josie said, “I just feel lucky that I didn’t accidentally kick it into the wrong goal. We were losing so badly…” 

“Oh yes, totally,” the doctor said, “Coming from someone who actually  _ has _ kicked into the wrong goal, you dodged a huge bullet there.” Josie laughed. This doctor really got her! She finished checking Josie’s foot and said, “Alright, I’m going to say this is definitely broken. Your friend can wait here while we take you back to get it scanned.”

“Okay,” Josie said, feeling comfortable enough with this doctor to leave Hope. She was rolled out of the room, and taken back to a room with a giant radiation sign on the door.

“Foot X-rays don’t require too much radiation, so you’ve got nothing to worry about,” she said, “Do you need help getting on the table?”

“I’ve got it,” Josie said. She used her hands and climbed on the table, resting her hurting foot on the cold surface. The doctor gently lifted it, placing it on a weird looking scanner. 

“This won’t take long,” she said, “You ready?” Josie nodded, and allowed the woman to start taking the X-rays of her foot. It was silent for a bit until she asked, “So you came here by yourself. Where are your parents?”

“They don’t live here, I go to boarding school,” Josie said, “I’m from Mystic Falls.”

“In Virginia?”

“Uh huh,” Josie said.

“Oh,” she simply said. It was weird, but Josie wasn’t in much of a condition to be curious. The pain in her foot was starting to come back, and she winced as the doctor moved her foot a little.

“I’m sorry sweetheart,” she said, “We’re almost done now.” Sure enough, the X-ray was done a few moments later, and she said, “Alright, I’ll take you back to your friend now.” 

“Thank you,” Josie said. She got back in the chair, and she was wheeled back to her room, where Hope was playing with the sink. It looked like she’d accidentally turned the wrong knob, because water shot right at her when it turned on.

“Jesus!” she shouted in annoyance. Josie just shook her head while the doctor went to help Hope. She got the sink turned off, then gave her a towel.

“Thanks,” Hope grumbled, wiping down her now wet jersey.

“Well girls, it was nice to meet you,” the doctor said, “Sweetie, the radiologist will be in soon to go over your X-rays, alright?”

“You’re not staying?” Josie asked. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt extremely comfortable around this woman. She didn’t want her to leave.

“I have to see other patients now,” she said, “But the radiologist will take good care of you.”

“Oh, alright,” Josie said, “Thanks so much, Dr…”

“Laughlin,” she said, “Have a good night, girls.” Dr. Laughlin left the room, and Hope finished drying off her jersey.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Still bad,” Josie admitted, “But thank you for taking me to the hospital. I’m hoping they’ll be able to give me some kind of medicine soon.”

“Yeah, and I bet you’ll get a cool cast,” Hope said, “What’s your favorite color?”

“Yellow,” Josie said, “Yours?”

“Red,” Hope said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yellow cast before.” 

“Me neither,” Josie said, “I broke my arm as a kid and asked for a yellow cast. They didn’t have one, so I asked for blue. My sister’s fav-” she stopped herself. 

“I’m sorry,” Hope said, “I didn’t mean to bring her up.”

“You didn’t,” Josie said, “I did.” It felt like the first time she had. She looked at her roommate, who was giving her a soft look. Could she trust her?  _ You have to trust someone _ , came her father’s voice in her ear. He’d told her that on the car ride over.

“My sister and I…” she started, “We used to be really close.”

“Yeah?” Hope asked. She nodded.

“Yeah. We did everything together. She was my best friend. But, recently-” she would have told Hope more, had the door not opened. The radiologist came in, holding Josie’s X-rays.

“Good evening, young lady,” he said, “I’m Dr. Robbins, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Josie said. She looked over at Hope, who looked annoyed at the fact that they’d been interrupted. Josie wasn’t sure if it had been a blessing or a curse. She was moving in somewhat of a good direction with Hope, so she could tell her this kind of stuff, right? But no, it had to be more of a blessing. Because if Hope knew what she’d done...she’d probably never want to see her again.

The talk with Dr. Robbins was thankfully short. He explained what Josie already knew, that her ankle was broken. She had to stay off of it for six weeks, which was great, because that took her out of playing soccer. Well, if there season wasn’t over, that was. Then that would mean everyone was out, and Josie had to deal with a broken ankle for six weeks. That would really suck.

“The physical therapist will come in to get that cast on you. Then when you’re done, you can fill out some forms so we can get your insurance. Would you like to get on the phone with Mom and Dad?”

“It’s okay,” Josie said, “I have the information.” 

“Alright,” he said, “I’ll also write you a light prescription. It’ll take away some of the pain, but you’ll need to rest your ankle. I’ll get you some crutches as well...how tall are you?” 

“Five foot eight,” Josie said, which caused Hope to nearly choke on the water she’d helped herself to. 

“Sorry, excuse me for a second,” she said, wiping her chin. She stepped out of the room for a second, while Dr. Robbins chuckled and said,

“Got it. I’ll get those for you. Oh, and for your cast, what color do you want? We have the basic white, then there’s pink, green, blue, yellow...” 

“Red,” Josie said, watching her roommate through the window, “I want red.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Family Weekend will be next chapter!


	8. Rough On the Surface but You Cut Through Like a Knife

Hope was playing with the phone in the waiting room, and the triage nurse was coming to take it away from her when Josie came back with Dr. Robbins. 

“Hey,” she said, putting the phone back on the wall, “How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” she said. Her voice was kind of slurred, so Hope frowned at the doctor.

“We gave her a little something for the pain. Just make sure she doesn’t operate any heavy machinery for the next twenty four hours.”

“Got it,” Hope said, “Can I take her home now?”

“Depends. Have you taken anything or had anything to drink in the past twenty four hours?”

“No sir.”

“Then you’re free to go. We got all the paperwork we needed, and here is her prescription. As long as she takes one a day, the pain will be manageable.”

“Thanks,” Hope said, taking the bag from him. He said goodbye, then Hope looked at Josie, who was about to fall asleep. She prodded her gently, and said, “Jo? Are you ready to go?”

“I fink so,” Josie said, “But how are we gonna get these crutches on ya bike?”

“It’ll be hard, but we’ll make it work,” Hope said, “Can you make it out okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Josie said, using the crutches to get into a standing position. It was then when Hope noticed the big red cast on her ankle. 

“They didn’t have yellow?” Hope asked. Josie shook her head,

“No, they didn’t,” she said. She crutched out with Hope, and they went to Hope’s bike, which was still parked right out front.

“Hope?”

“Yes?”

“Will your Mom and Dad be mad about us going to the emergency room without telling them?”

“No,” Hope said.  _ They’re going to get mad at me, but not you _ . She was going to make sure of that, “They’ll just be glad you’re okay.” Hope grabbed her helmet from the seat, and clipped it on to Josie’s head, “Do you think you’ll be able to sit? If not I’ll call a cab.”

“I’ll be fine,” Josie said, “Just help me up.” Hope helped her on the seat, then sat in front of her, placing Josie’s crutches on her lap.

“I am so glad this is only five minutes,” Hope said. It ended up taking ten because Hope cut down her speed, but they did make it back to the school. As she stopped, she heard Josie’s soft breathing. She turned and saw the girl asleep on her shoulder. 

“Josie,” Hope said, “We’re back now.” She stayed quiet, so Hope tapped her on the shoulder, “Josie? Josie!” 

“ Huh?” Josie asked blearily as her eyes opened, “Oh. Hey Hope.”

“Hey,” Hope said, “Ready to go in?” Josie nodded, but instead of getting up from the bike, she nearly tumbled right off of it, so Hope had to grab her before she did. She gave Josie her crutches, and made sure the girl was supported before walking her to the door.

“Last time someone broke their leg, my parents set them up in the infirmary,” Hope said as she followed Josie inside. The time on the wall said 9:40. It was quiet, which meant everyone must have already headed to bed, “We can get you settled there, no one will bother you.”

“Thanks Hope,” Josie said, crutching forward, “Where is it again?”

“Just down this way,” Hope said. She led Josie to the infirmary, and moved the covers out of the way so Josie could get settled in a bed. She then grabbed a pillow for Josie to prop her leg on.

“That feels nice,” Josie said, “Are there any more ice-” Josie’s question was cut off when the door opened, and they heard Hayley ask,

“Hope?” She didn’t sound mad, so that was a start.

“In here, Mom,” Hope said. Her Mom came in with a rather panicked look on her face, but it faded when she saw Josie sitting in bed.

“Oh thank God you’re alright, honey. We were all so worried. Klaus came back to get you, but when we saw your bed was empty, we almost called the police until we saw Hope’s bike was  gone.”

“You didn’t have to worry so much, I was really fine,” Josie said.

“Well of course we worried, you were injured and we had no idea where you were. Hope, you know better than to leave without telling us.” Hope’s face reddened a bit. Her parents usually never scolded her in front of other students. She had a reputation to uphold!

“It wasn’t her fault, I went along with it,” Josie said tiredly from the bed, “Hope, can I please get an ice pack?” 

“Yeah, I’ll go get it,” Hope said. She went into the storeroom while her Mom doted over Josie. When she came back, the woman was pressing a cloth to her forehead, and talking in a quiet tone.

“I brought the ice,” she said.

“Thank you,” Josie said. She reached out for it, but her hand didn’t make it far enough, so Hope just placed it over her casted ankle.

“Better?” she asked.

“Better,” Josie said, “I think I like it like tha…” she never finished her sentence because she fell asleep right then and there. 

“They gave her some medicine,” Hope told her Mom, “They said she should be back to herself after twenty four hours, but she should take one a day.” 

“I’ll let Geneveive know,” Hayley said, taking the pain medicine from Hope’s hand. She placed it in a cabinet and said, “Come on, I think we should talk.” Hope gave one last look to Josie, who was now hugging a pillow, and decided that she was fine, so she followed her Mom out of the room.

“I know you’re mad-” she started.

“I’m not mad,” Mom said, but Hope was still going,

“-but Josie was hurt, I didn’t like that she was in pain, and Dad always takes so long when it comes to the hospital, so I just thought-”

“ _ Hope _ ,” she repeated in a firmer tone, “I’m not mad.” Hope closed her mouth.

“You’re not?” she asked. Mom shook her head.

“I think you really took initiative tonight, and it made me proud. I’m not saying you should slip off without telling me all the time, but for this time, I can let it slide.” 

“You can?” Hope asked. She nodded, “Who are you and what have you done with my Mom?” She laughed and gave Hope a hug.

“Seeing Josette okay has put me in a good mood, I suppose,” she said, “Did the doctor say how long she’d be wearing that cast?”

“Six weeks,” Hope said, “She probably can’t come back up to the attic. I’ll bring some of her stuff down for her.”

“Okay,” Hayley said, “But I need you to trust the nurses to look after her. No more taking things in your own hands, Josette is going to be fine.”

“I won’t,” Hope said, “Um Mom, I’m kinda tired, and I need to get out of this jersey-”

“Sure,” she said, “but before you go, is there any cab fare that needs to be paid?”

“ No, we didn’t take a cab.”

“You walked all the way there and back?!” 

“Of course not, we took my bi-” Hope started, then trailed off.  _ Shit. _ Her Mom’s eyes were widening into that “you’re in trouble” look. Hope hated that look.

“You took your injured roommate to the hospital on a  _ motorcycle _ , then drove back with the crutches and the medicine? How did that all even fit?!”

“I mean it barely did…”

“And you only have one helmet! Where did you get a second one?”

“Well…”

“ _ Hope _ …” most students said Dad was the scarier one, but Hope was quite certain that when her Mom got angry, she could be the scariest person in the world.

“It was only five minutes, and I drove safely,” Hope said, “Josie was already hurt, I thought she would need the helmet more!”

“Give me the keys,” Hayley said, holding her hand out.  _ Dammit _ .

“But-”

“Now,” Hayley said. Hope sighed and pulled her bike key from her pocket. She placed it in her Mom’s hand and asked,

“

When do I get it back?”

“As of right now, never. You know why we have those rules about your bike, and you chose to disregard them, which isn’t okay. Now go to bed. It’s late, and we both have work in the morning.”

“Okay,” Hope said, “Goodnight, Mom.” Her Mom’s face softened.

“Goodnight, honey. I love you,” she added at the end. Hope smiled and said,

“Love you, too.” Her Mom gave her a shoulder rub before heading down the hall to her room. Her parents both had rooms close to the infirmary, so Hope trusted Josie would be safe with them for the night. She ascended the flights of stairs to her room, and held in a sigh at how empty it was. She knew Josie wasn’t gone, but it was kind of sad seeing her side of the room with no one there.

“Would you look at that, Jo,” Hope said as she took her cleats off, “I’ve only known you for a few weeks, and now it feels wrong to be up here without you. Who’d have thought?”

The next few days without Josie just weren’t fun, so for the next couple of days, instead of going to her room to do work, Hope found herself doing it in the infirmary. Josie didn’t seem to mind the company, especially since no one else really came by. 

Jade, Maya, and Penelope still felt guilty for not watching out for her during the game, but Hope didn’t think Josie was too mad. But if she was being honest, she didn’t mind the alone time.

The two of them had actually gotten to talking. Hope hadn’t learned anything more about Lizzie, but she had learned more about what Josie was like. Her favorite movie was Mamma Mia, she was allergic to seaweed, she’d always wanted a puppy, and her favorite singer was Alanis Morissette. 

“And yours?” she’d asked while Hope traced a flower on Josie’s once plain red cast. Over the days it had slowly begun to get full of Hope’s little drawings. 

“Not sure,” Hope said, “I like all types of music. It’s hard to pick just one singer.” 

“Do you have a favorite artist?” Josie asked as Hope added a stem to the flower. 

“My Dad,” she said, “He’s the best painter, and he taught me everything I know.” She was interrupted from drawing a gardenia when Nurse Genevieve needed to help Josie do some exercises. 

“Hope, are you sure you don’t have anything better to do?” Josie asked as she worked on a leg lift. Hope looked up from her math homework and said,

“Nope, I like being here. Unless you want me to go…”

“No no no, it’s all good,” Josie said, “Just checking.” The phone in the office started to ring, so Genevieive said,

“I better take that. Someone might be hurt. Hope, can you take over?”

“What am I doing?” Hope asked, closing her textbook.

“Just hold her leg at the knee and help her stretch it down,” Genevieve said, “Since she won’t be able to walk on this foot for a while, we need to make sure this leg keeps up its strength.” 

“Cool,” Hope said. She took Josie’s leg at the knee, which made her laugh, “What?”

“Nothing, it just tickles,” Josie said. Hope tried to adjust where she was holding the leg, but it just made Josie laugh more, “I think we’ll just have to go with it.”

“You sure?” Josie nodded, “Alright then.” She gripped Josie’s leg, and helped her stretch it out, making sure to keep her head out of the way of Josie’s cast, “Did they not have yellow?”

“Nope,” Josie said, “No blue either. I actually think red was all they had besides white.”

“Oh damn, that’s lame,” Hope said, lifting Josie’s leg back up to do another stretch, “But white is gross, and I can’t complain about red, so…”

“Exactly,” Josie said, moving her leg down. She struggled a bit near the end, so Hope worked to stabilize her. She moved her hand up her leg, which made Josie nearly double over with laughter.

“Josie?”

“That tickles so much,” the girl said. Hope let go of Josie’s leg, which she immediately regretted, because it ended up falling down hard on the bed, “Ouch!”

“I’m sorry!” Hope said, “I didn’t want to tickle you, so I let go.” 

“All good,” Josie said, pulling herself in a sitting position. She ran a hand through her hair and said, “I need this cast off soon. It’s such a hindrance.” 

“It’s been almost two weeks,” Hope said, “So just...four to go.” 

“Fantastic,” Josie said. Hope noticed she was having some trouble getting her foot to rest under the pillow, so she helped. She’d gotten the casted foot right where Josie wanted by the time Genevieve came back from her call.

“Luckily no emergency, they just had my shipment of Tylenol,” she said, “And speaking of…” she handed Josie her medicine and cup of water.

“Thanks,” Josie said, taking the pill. She handed Genevieve the cup when she was finished, and the nurse asked,

“Alright, what would you like me to get you for dinner? They’re having spaghetti tonight, is that alright with you?” Josie nodded, “Excellent, I’ll be right back.” Genevieve left the room, and as Hope packed her stuff, she said,

“You know, you can come eat with us if you want. I can get you an extra chair to keep your leg on. It’ll be fun!”

“That’s okay,” Josie said, “The medicine makes me drowsy anyway, I wouldn’t be much fun.” 

“Oh,” Hope said, trying to hide her disappointment, “Well, the offer’s always open.” 

“I’ll think about it,” she said, and just when Hope thought they were going to get somewhere, Genevieve came back. She put the plate of noodles on the table by Josie’s bed and said,

“Sorry that took so long, I had to speak with a student about the upcoming Family Weekend.” Hope saw Josie’s face fall at the simple mention of the day.

“Um, Nurse Genevieve-” Hope started.

“Will your family be coming, Josette?” she asked. Josie nodded, and Hope could see the tears she was fighting back.

“Yes,” she said, “My Dad said he and my Mom were both coming.”

“Well that sounds fun.” Josie looked like she wanted to die. Nurse Genevieve was what Hope’s friends called out of the loop. She always asked way too many questions.

“Uh huh,” Josie said, picking at her spaghetti. She didn’t look too hungry anymore.

“Josie, are you ok-” Hope started to ask, but the girl cut her off by saying,

“I want to be left alone right now. Please.” 

“Oh, alright,” Hope said, “If you need me, just ask Nurse Genevieve. She can call me down.” Josie didn’t say anything, and she never called Hope down. Hope spent the night in her room, playing with her pillow. Nights were boring without Josie. She was really lonely. She couldn’t believe she used to just live without a roommate. 

Hope debated grabbing a blanket and joining Josie downstairs, but she guessed after the mention of Family Weekend, Josie didn’t feel much like company. She couldn’t blame her. Hope wasn’t excited either. She was dreading it, actually. She’d have to see his face, his smug smile that had once drew her in...now it just made her feel sick. 

“One day, Mikaelson,” she told herself, “Just one day…”

The day of Family Weekend, Hope pulled herself into the skirt and button up her Mom had left her. She never dressed like this on Saturdays, but Mom said it made a good impression. She slid into the black flats by her dead, wincing as she looked at herself in the mirror. She really was so short…

“Hope!” came Maya’s voice from the other side of the door, “Can we go? My Mom and Ethan will be here soon and I wanna get breakfast!”

“Coming,” Hope said. She left her room, and saw Maya waiting impatiently on the steps.

“Took you long enough,” Maya said.

“You should have asked me last night,” Hope siad, “I would have woken up earlier.” 

“Whatever,” Maya grumbled. Family Weekend always managed to make her testy, “They’re gonna be here earlier than usual which means we only have a few minutes.” They passed the infirmary on their way to the dining hall, which is where Hope saw Josie sitting on her bed, struggling to get a shoe over her un casted foot.

“Go ahead and get me a croissant,” Hope said, “I’ll catch up with you.” Maya nodded and kept going. Hope went to the infirmary and knocked on the door. Josie looked up, and Hope asked, “Do you need some help with that?”

“I think I’ve got it,” Josie said, but she clearly didn’t. Hope watched her struggle with her laces for about a minute before asking,

“May I?” Josie sighed, looked up, and said,

“You may.” Hope bent down, and took the laces. She was tying them when she heard Josie sheepishly admit,

“I’ve never known how to tie my shoes. My sister always did them for me.”

“What about your cleats?” Hope asked.

“They were tied when I bought them, I just jammed my foot in,” she admitted, “My feet barely being able to move might have been why I did so badly on that kick…”

“It’s all good, I actually didn’t learn until I was twelve,” Hope said as she finished doing a double knot, “And, fun fact. Albert Einstein never knew how to tie his shoes.”

“Really?”

“Yep, learned it in science. I’m getting an A.” 

“Nice,” Josie said, “and thanks.”

“No problem.” Josie grabbed her crutches from the side of the bed, and pulled herself to her feet, “My parents should be here soon…” 

“Is Lizzie coming?” Hope asked against her better judgement. Josie didn’t answer her. She left the room, and Hope sighed before following her. She caught up with her and continued with, “Um, do you want to get breakfast with me and Maya?”

“Not hungry,” Josie said. She kept going, and Hope stopped. She decided that it was best if she let Josie be on her own. She went to join Maya in the dining hall, and was glad to see a croissant with a packet of strawberry jelly waiting for her.

“Where’s Jo?” Maya asked around her Fruit Loops.

“She wasn’t hungry,” Hope said, spreading the jelly over her croissant, “Where are Jade and Pen?” Maya shrugged.

“Haven’t seen them. I went to their room, but they were both gone.” 

“Maybe Pen's parents already got here,” Hope said.

“Nope!” came Penelope’s cheery voice in her ear a moment later. She hopped into the chair next to her, and helped herself to a strawberry of Maya’s plate.

“Hey!” the girl complained as Penelope ate it in one bite. 

“Oh my bad, when are they getting here?” Hope asked.

“They’re not,” she said, “Dad had an emergency at work, and Mom didn’t want to make the trip on her own. They said they’d come next time.”

“So what are you gonna do all day?” Maya asked.

“Jade and I are gonna practice drills.” Hope laughed, “What?”

“Our season is over. Why do you need to practice?” Her friends frowned at her, “What?”

“You haven’t heard?” Penelope asked.

“Heard what?” Hope asked. 

“Inez’s team is out. Someone on the team was juicing. Since they were the ones who got us out, we’re back in,” Maya said. Hope’s eyes widened.

“Seriously? Why didn’t anyone tell me, this is great news!”

“We’ve tried, but we never see you anymore,” Penelope said, “You spend all your time out of class with Josie.” Hope frowned. Penelope sounded almost angry.

“Not all my time,” Hope said, “You still could have told me. I haven’t practiced in a while, I don’t want to fall behind.” 

“It’s our bad, Hope,” Maya said, finishing her cereal, “I should get going. My Mom’ll be here soon. Good luck with Landon.” 

“ Thanks,” Hope said, ignoring the feeling of dread coming up at the mention of his name. She actually hadn’t heard it in so long. Jade usually never said it, her parents called him Mr. Kirby, and Penelope called him “flopdon.” Maya was usually the best at being honest with her though…

“Shit, forgot he was coming,” Penelope said, “Do you need me to stay?” Any past anger was gone, and she wore a face filled with concern.

“ No, go practice. I’ll join you when he’s gone,” Hope said.

“You sure?” Penelope asked, and Hope nodded. She honestly just wanted to get this done. If she brought an army, he could cause a scene, “Well, if that’s what you want…”

“It is,” Hope said, “I’ll be fine.” Penelope gave her a squeeze on the shoulder and said,

“Okay. Come as soon as you can, alright?” 

“I will.” 

“I gotta get going, I’ve kept Jade waiting for too long. Tell Jo I say hey if you see her.” 

“Sure,” Hope said, “I’ll see you, Pen.” Penelope took one last strawberry from Maya’s abandoned plate before leaving the hall. Hope scanned the room for Josie, hoping she’d come in, but she never did. She waited by the table until breakfast closed. She put her plate away, but grabbed a donut from one of the trays before it could be taken away. Maybe Josie was still hungry. 

Hope left the room, and looked around. She saw Maya with her Mom and her brother Ethan by the steps. Maya was hugging the older boy while her Mom smiled at the two. Maya’s Mom saw her, and gave her a polite wave.

“Hello, Hope,” she said.

“Hi Ms. Machado,” Hope said, “Hey Ethan.”

“Hey Hope,” the boy said, “How’ve you been since…”

“She’s been fine,” Maya said quickly, giving a side glance to her now curious mother, “Come on, let’s go talk outside.” She ushered her family towards the door, giving Hope an apologetic look on her way out. Once she was gone, Hope continued her search for Josie. 

She didn’t like that she was alone. If Landon did show up, she’d be a sitting duck, which was why she nearly let out a squeal of delight when she saw the bright red of Josie’s cast.

“Hey there you are…” she said as she walked up to her, but stopped when she realized what Josie was looking at. The door had just opened, and a man Hope recognized as Josie’s father walked in. Only this time he wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by perhaps one of the most beautiful women Hope had ever seen.  She had an angelic face, beautiful blonde hair, and sparkling eyes. She was a lot younger than most of the Moms that came, and she walked with an air of superiority.

Hope had never seen Josie this nervous, not even at the game. Her hands were shaking on her crutches, and her eyes were twitching. Part of Hope wanted to go comfort her, but she also knew that it wasn’t her place. So she stayed peeled to the steps, watching Josie’s parents come to her. 

“Hey honey,” her Dad said, giving her the best hug he could, “What happened to you?”

“I fell playing in a soccer game,” Josie said, “I should be fine in a few weeks, though.”

“That’s good, right Care?” Mr. Salvatore asked his wife. Mrs. Salvatore didn’t seem like she heard him though. Her gaze wasn’t even on Josie, it was like she was trying to avoid her. She looked at the ceiling, the floor, the wall...everywhere but Josie. 

“Mom?” Josie asked. The woman didn’t say anything. She just looked like she was going to cry. Mr. Salvatore seemed to notice that, because he put an arm around her and said,

“Jo, why don’t we go somewhere private to talk?”

“We can go to the infirmary. It’s where I’ve been staying,” Josie said. She led her parents down the hall, and she shut the door behind them.

“Eavesdropping?” her Aunt Freya asked, nearly making her drop the donut.

“I’m not eavesdropping, I’m just checking on my friend,” Hope said, “Do you want any of this? I got it for Josie, but I don’t think she’ll be coming out of there for a while.”

“Sure,” Freya said, taking the whole thing, “Your Dad is looking for you.”

“Where is he?” she asked. Freya pointed towards the top of the stairs, where her Dad was on the phone. Hope went towards the stairs, and walked up to them. He was hanging up the phone by the time Hope reached him.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“Seylah Kirby,” Klaus said, “She’s outside.” Hope felt her stomach drop. This was really happening. She gave her Dad a small nod and murmured,

“Got it.” He gestured down the stairs, and Hope walked down, feeling like a dead girl walking. She regretted telling Penelope she could leave. She really wouldn’t mind a friend right now. She left the building, and saw the familiar red Range Rover in the lot. Mrs. Kirby was standing near the front, and Landon was next to her. 

He looked a lot different than he had last year. He’d grown out his long curls, he had a tattoo of a chess piece on his arm, and he’d traded his usual band T-shirts for tight fitting polos. If Hope hadn’t hated him, she would’ve thought he was cute.

“Mrs. Kirby,” Klaus said to the woman, “Always a pleasure.”

“Mr. Mikaelson,” Seylah said, “I wish I could say the same.”  _ What a bitch. _

“Our circumstances aren’t the best as it seems,” Klaus said. He looked at Landon and said, “And how have you been, young man?”

“Oh you know, adjusting,” Landon said, flashing one of his signature smiles. It used to be able to make most girls melt. It probably still did at whatever school he was at now.

“Of course,” Klaus said, “Hope, I believe you have something for Mr. Kirby.”

“Yeah,” Hope said. She pulled the check from her pocket and said, “It’s all here.” Landon took the money and said,

“Thanks. Appreciate it.” He winked at her afterwards, and it nearly made her vomit.

“Are we cool?” Hope asked. Landon looked at the money, then back at his Mom, who gave him a small nod. A nod that Hope didn’t appreciate.

“You see, we could be,” he said, “but I don’t think we are.”

“Excuse me?” Klaus asked, his face hardening.

“You heard me,” Landon said flippantly.

“We had a deal,” Hope said.

“You and I had a deal,” Landon told her, “The school and I didn’t. The money is good for now, but I want  _ everything _ that I’m owed.”

“Which is?” Landon looked over at her Dad and said,

“I want him out of this school. The problems started with his leadership. If he leaves the school, you’ll never hear from me again.”  _ This goddamn dick… _

“Well that’s not going to happen,” Hope said, “So now what?”

“Then I guess you’ll be seeing me,” Landon said, “Goodbye for now, Hope.” He gave her Dad a nod before climbing back into his car.

“Good day Mr. Mikaelson,” his Mother said, “I do hope you’ll consider my son’s proposition.” Her Dad remained quiet, keeping his steely gaze away from Hope. Mrs. Kirby got in the car, and they drove away. Hope glared after the car.

“Assholes,” she grumbled.

“That’s not very nice,” Dad said.

“Well it’s the truth!” Hope said. She looked over at him and asked, “What do we do now?”

“I need to discuss this with your Mother,” he said, “And in the meantime, you speak of this to nobody. Not your friends, your Aunts, Josette…”

“I won’t,” Hope said.

“Not one word,” he said, “Not even to Camille. This needs to stay between us and your mother, am I understood?” Hope nodded, and he continued with, “Good. Now get inside and greet the other guests. I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Dad,” Hope said before he was gone. “Are you gonna be okay?” 

“Just...just don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” he said, but his tone of voice indicated he wasn’t so sure. But he was gone before she could ask anything else. Hope sighed, running a hand through her hair. All she could think about was her hatred for Landon Kirby. She knew he’d ruin her day, but she had no idea it was gonna be that bad. 

She went back to the building, and was moving to open the door when it opened for her, and Josie’s parents stepped out. Her Mom looked like she was going to cry, and her Dad looked like he was trying to console her.

“Caroline, just come back inside, we can…” he started, but stopped immediately when he saw Hope standing there, “Excuse me, do you mind?”

“Right, sorry,” Hope said, “My bad.” She stepped inside the school, but kept the door open, watching Josie’s parents walk away. Her Mom looked angry, while her Dad was trying to get her to come back. Hope wasn’t sure what to do, but she knew she needed to see her roommate. She went into the school and walked to the infirmary, slowly opening the door.

“Josie?” she asked. The girl was sitting on the bed, looking down, and clutching at the mattress. From her hitched breathing, Hope could tell that she was crying, “Hey...what happened?” Josie lifted her head, which allowed Hope to see the fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I um…” she started in a shaky voice, “I don’t think that she…” she didn’t keep going, and for once, Hope decided not to push. But she didn’t leave. She knelt down in front of the bed, and took Josie’s hand in her own. Both girls remained quiet, but Josie didn’t let go. For now, that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading! Next chapter will show what happened with Josie...


	9. I’d Hold You as the Water Rushes In

Josie looked at her Mom. After not seeing or talking to the woman in weeks, it felt like she was looking at a stranger, not the same Caroline Salvatore that used to read her fairytales, help her with her homework, or make her warm tea when she was sick. Now the woman who had wanted nothing to do with her. Who still didn’t.

“Mom?” she asked. She could see tears welling in her eyes as she worked to avoid eye contact. She gave her Dad a pleading look. He gently took her shoulders and murmured,

“Jo, why don’t we go somewhere private to talk?” Josie nodded and said,

“We can go to the infirmary. It’s where I’ve been staying.” Josie turned and led her parents down the hall towards the small room. Her Dad held the door open for her, and she crutched inside, situating herself back on her bed.

“Are they taking good care of you?” Dad asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah, it’s been fine,” she said, “Everyone here is really nice.” She looked up at her Mom, who’d shut the door behind her. The woman had her arms crossed, and was busying herself by reading a poster on the wall about the importance of washing your hands. 

“Mom?” she asked again.  _ Just look at me, dammit! _ Her Dad walked over to her and asked,

“Care? Isn’t there anything you want to say?” Her Mom just studied her feet, and Josie held in a sigh. This wasn’t going to go anywhere.

“Maybe you two should go,” Josie said, “This is a waste of time anyway.”

“Don’t say that,” Dad said. 

“Why?” Josie asked, “Mom very obviously doesn’t want to be here, and I don’t want to waste more of anybody’s time-”

“What do you want from me, Josette?” Mom asked, and for the first time, her eyes met Josie’s. There was no getting out of this conversation now.

“I want you to stop treating me like you don’t know me, and actually talk to me!” she snapped.

“Josie-” Dad tried to cut in, but her Mom said,

“Of course I know you,” she said, “You’re my daughter, and I love you.”  _ That was new. _ “It just...isn’t the same.” 

“Wow, Mom,” she said.

“Honey-” Dad tried again, but she wasn’t done,

“Don’t defend her, Dad!” Josie snapped crossly, “Why’d you even have to bring her in the first place? She clearly doesn’t want to be here.”

“That’s not fair,” he said.

“How is it unfair?” she asked, “Look at her! She’s miserable, she can barely talk to me, and she looks like she’s a second away from crying-”

“How do you expect me to act?” Caroline asked angrily, “You know what you did, how am I supposed to act any other way?”

“I apologized for everything!” Josie shouted, nearly surprising herself by how much she raised her voice, “I never meant for anything bad to happen. She set me off, and-”

“Oh, so it’s her fault now?”

“Would you just let me finish?” 

“I’ve heard all of your excuses!” Mom snapped, “I had too much to drink, she made me upset, I never meant for it to happen. None of them erase what you did!”

“I never said that they did-” 

“And I am sorry, Josie. I’m sorry things can’t be like they were before. But that isn’t on  _ me. _ You made the irresponsible decision, and you have to face the consequences for it.” 

“Will you ever be able to forgive me?” Josie asked. Instead of answering, Mom asked,

“Are you able to forgive yourself?”  _ No. _ Josie realized her Mom was waiting for an answer, so she slowly shook her head, “Well then, you have my answer.”

“So that’s it, then? We have nothing left to say to each other?” she asked.

“No, I don’t think we do,” Caroline said after a minute of uncomfortable silence, “I don’t think I can see you anymore, Josie.”  _ Oh. _ Josie uncrossed her arms, no longer sure of what to say. Luckily, her Dad spoke up for her.

“C’mon, I know you don’t mean that,” he said. 

“I think we should go, Stefan,” she said, “It’s getting late, and I don’t want to spend the night.” 

“Caroline-”

“Mom’s right,” Josie said, “You two should go.” She leaned back on the bed, turning away from her family. She really just needed to be alone. She heard footsteps, and the door soon opened. She looked back, expecting to be alone, but her Dad was still there.

“We’ll come back next time,” he said.

“Don’t,” Josie said, “Just don’t.” Her Dad walked over to her, gave her a gentle kiss on the temple, and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once she was sure they weren’t going to come back, she started to cry. Big, ugly sobs that she prayed no one would hear. 

A few moments passed, and she saw the knob of the door turn. She stifled her sobs, expecting Nurse Genevieve to come in. Instead she saw her roommate’s heeled boots.

“Josie?” the girl asked, her soft voice sounding almost soothing, “Hey...what happened?” Josie looked up, and saw her roommate staring at her with perhaps the most concerned expression ever. 

“I um…” her voice shook as she talked. She wanted to tell her. No, she  _ needed _ to, “I don’t think that she…”  _ She doesn’t want me anymore _ , she tried to say, but no words came out. Just more tears. Hope walked up to her, and got on her knees in front of the bed. 

She took Josie’s hands in her own, and Josie allowed her to rub comforting circles into her palms. Not a word was spoken between the two of them, which was fine, because at the moment, touch was all Josie could handle.

They dropped hands, but Hope didn’t leave the room. She sat in the chair by the door while Josie laid on the bed, running her hand through the soft blanket Genevieive had provided her with. She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but she’d seen a ton of cars leave the front yard of the school. Family Weekend was probably ending for the day. 

“A lot of them will be back tomorrow,” Hope said, breaking the long silence, “Will your parents-”

“No,” Josie said curtly. Hope didn’t continue. Josie started toying with a loose thread on the blanket, and remained in her position, ignoring the door opening.

“There you are,” came Penelope’s voice, “Maya’s staying with her family for today and tomorrow, and she was looking for you to say goodbye.” 

“I’ll be there in a second,” Hope said, “Jo, do you wanna come with?” 

“No thanks,” she murmured. She’d grown rather content with laying in her bed. Hope whispered something to Penelope and said,

“I’ll be back in a bit.” The two girls left the room, and Josie moved to lay on her back. She winced as some pain went through her ankle, and she pulled herself into a sitting position. She looked at all the illustrations Hope had placed on her cast. There were mostly flowers, but going right through the middle was a line of notes. 

Josie would have been able to play them if she was near a piano. Not like she would, but she could. She ran her hand down the jagged material, following the notes from the top of the cast to her toes. She couldn’t wait to get this thing off. As she traced over the flowers Hope had adorned the line of music with, there was a knock on the door.

“You don’t have to knock, Hope,” she said, “Just come in.” 

“It’s Hayley,” came the headmistress’s voice.  _ Awkward. _ Josie blushed and said,

“Come in.” The door opened, and the woman walked in. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” she asked.

“Fine,” Josie lied. Hayley pulled something out from under her arm and said,

“I ran into your Dad. He meant to give this to you,” she said, “It’s a letter from home.” Josie took it from her, and nearly gasped at the name on it. Jed Harker. 225 Sequoyah Street. Mystic Falls, VA. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“Of course,” Hayley said. She left the room, which allowed Josie the privacy she wanted to read the letter. She peeled it open, and pulled out the page inside. She opened it and saw Jed’s familiar handwriting. Scrawls she could almost barely make out. 

“Hey Jo,” the header said, “I meant to give this to you in person, but every time I dropped by your house, your parents said it was a bad time.” Josie remembered that. She used to watch Jed leave through her window, not sure if she wanted him to look back or not. It didn’t matter though, he never did. 

“I know there is no apologizing for what happened. If you can never forgive me, I think I can live with that. You can hate me forever, I don’t care. But what I can’t live with is not knowing you’re okay. So please, answer back. I miss you so much, and I need to know.”  _ Do I write back? _ Josie thought. The school had a mailroom, mostly for students to write to their families. But Jed was right. Much like Josie couldn’t forgive herself, she couldn’t forgive him either.

“I never meant to hurt you, Jo,” he said, “What I would give to be back in that hallway, where I was asking if you wanted to go that concert with me.”  _ Yeah, what she’d give _ . “I do hope I’ll hear from you soon. With love, regret, and remorse, Jed.” 

“Dammit, Harker,” she murmured, tracing her finger over his signature. He used to slip her notes during English. All of them were signed the same way. How could things have changed so fast?

_ “But Mom, I asked if I could go last weekend and you said it was fine!” Josie complained as she followed her into the kitchen. _

_ “That was before your piano recital got moved. If you place at the top, which I know you will, then you’ll have the finals Saturday morning. You’ll need your rest.” _

_ “The finals won’t start until 9. If I come home by midnight I’ll still get eight hours of sleep!”  _

_ “Josie, I said no,” Caroline said, “There will be other parties. You’ve been working to get to these finals for months, you know this is more important.” _

_ “But Jed really wants to go-”  _

_ “So that’s what this is about? Your boyfriend?” Mom said boyfriend in probably the most distasteful tone Josie had ever heard.  _

_ “ _ _ It’s not just about him,” Josie said, “Why can’t I go out and have fun with my friends?” _

_ “You can go out with your friends on Saturday,” Caroline said, “It’s just one night. I promise, you’re not going to miss out on much.” _

_ “I bet you’ll still let Lizzie go,” Josie grumbled, crossing her arms. _

_ “What was that?” Caroline asked. _

_ “You heard me,” Josie said crossly, slumping against her chair.  _

_ “Josette, don’t test my patience,” Caroline said. She placed a plate of eggs in front of her and said, “Go on and eat, I’m gonna check on your sister, then we can leave.” _

_ “Jed’s taking me to school,” Josie said, “He should be here soon.” She didn’t miss the frown on her Mom’s face when she said that, “You know, when Lizzie dated that boy Connor who we met at that barbeque last year, she was allowed to hang out with him whenever she wanted.” _

_ “That wasn’t a serious relationship,” Caroline said, “They only went out once or twice.” _

_ “They went out for six months!” Josie exclaimed. She and Jed had celebrated their four month anniversary last week, and Mom still treated him like a stranger.  _

_ “Who went out for six months?” Dad asked as he entered the kitchen. He gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek before going to pour himself some coffee. _

_ “Lizzie and Connor from the barbeque,” Josie said, pushing her eggs around her plate. She hated her Mom’s eggs. She preferred when Dad made breakfast. _

_ “Oh I liked Connor, a nice boy,” Stefan said.  _

_ “Jed’s a nice boy,” Josie said defensively. She swore she heard her Mom scoff, but luckily for her, Dad nodded and said, _

_ “I do like Jed. You should have him over for dinner, it’s been a while.” _

_ “I would, if Mom would let me,” Josie said crossly.  _

_ “When have I ever said Jed couldn’t come over?” Caroline asked. _

_ “Are you serious? You always kick him out every time he comes here,” Josie said, “And last time I asked if he could stay for dinner, you said no!”  _

_ “Your Aunt Bonnie was in town from Europe, it was a family dinner.” _

_ “You let  _ Connor _ stay when Aunt Elena came over.”  _

_ “Aunt Elena didn’t come all the way from Europe, it’s a special occasion when Aunt Bonnie comes.”  _ Oh my God…

_ “But she  _ likes _ meeting my friends!” Josie complained. _

_ “Why are we having this fight?” Dad asked. _

_ “Because Mom is being unfair!” _

_ “Hey, I am  _ not _ being unfair,” Caroline said, “All I’m asking is that she stays home next Friday to be rested for her finals on Saturday. Once those are over, you and Jed can do whatever you want.”  _

_ “See Josie?” Dad asked, “Problem solved.”  _

_ “But-” she started, but didn’t get far since her Mom went towards the stairs. _

_ “Elizabeth!” she yelled as she ascended them, “You’re going to be late if you don’t come down soon!” She stormed up the stairs, leaving Josie alone with Dad. _

_ “ _ _ She’s been stressed with things at work,” Dad said. _

_ “She always is,” Josie said, stabbing her eggs. He walked up to the table and teasingly said, _

_ “Hey, don’t take it out on the eggs.” She smiled and asked, _

_ “Have you tasted Mom’s eggs? I’m doing them a favor by stabbing them.”  _

_ “These can’t be that bad,” Stefan said, taking her fork and taking a bite. A bite which he almost immediately spit back on the plate, “Oh that’s disgusting.” _

_ “Told you,” Josie said. Her phone buzzed soon after. She looked at it and saw a text from Jed. He was waiting outside. _

_ “Go,” Dad said, “I’ll talk to Mom.” Josie’s face brightened. _

_ “Really?” he nodded, “Thanks Dad, love you!” She gave him a hug before grabbing her phone and backpack and heading outside. Jed was sitting in his car, looking at something on his phone. When he saw Josie coming, he got out so he could open the passenger door for her. _

_ “Such a gentleman,” Josie said in a teasing tone.  _

_ “Always for you, milady,” he said, giving her a mock bow. She climbed into the car and tossed her bag in the backseat. When Jed got back into the car, he immediately leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back, and when they pulled apart, he asked, _

_ “You ready for Kaleb’s party? I’m gonna DJ, it’s gonna be so sick!”  _

_ “Yeah, totally,” Josie said, disregarding her conversation with her Mother. She was almost sixteen, she could choose how she managed her own time, “I have my piano recital before, though. You’ll be there, right?” _

_ “Wouldn’t miss it for anything. You’re gonna kill it.” Josie beamed at him. It was nice to know somebody believed in her. _

Josie drummed her fingers against his letter. She wanted to write back, but she was just so angry at him. She could end up writing a whole rant or nothing at all. So she folded the letter back up, placed it back in the envelope, and put it in her backpack which was on the bedside table. She’d figure out what to do with it later. 

She reached for her crutches that were leaned against the bed, and she pulled herself up. Hayley had left the door open for her, so she easily left. There were still some people with their families in the hallways. Some looked happy, others didn’t. She crutched past the dining hall, where she saw Hope and Penelope with Maya and her family. Josie contemplated joining them, but she didn’t feel like doing the introductions with Maya’s whole family. Plus she still looked near disheveled from her meeting with her family, so she just kept walking.

She wasn’t sure why, but her walk eventually took her back to the piano room, which was thankfully empty. Josie entered, flicked the light on, and shut the door with her crutch. She made it to the bench and sat down, leaning her crutches on the side of the piano. She pulled off the covering, and rested her fingers on the keys. She’d almost forgotten how they felt. 

Josie wasn’t sure what to play, so she started with a simple scale. It was easy enough, and as she kept playing it over and over until she was humming along to the notes. She’d learned to sing from a scale like this. A B C D E F...the high F had always been the hardest to master. 

“Still got it, Salvatore,” she murmured to herself after reaching the note. She drummed on the keys, trying to think of another song. ABCs? Bland. Row Row Row Your Boat? Child’s play. Josie looked down at the cast, where the notes were still there.

“Worth a shot,” she murmured. She spent the next few minutes working to find a way to get her leg up on the bench without falling off. Once she was situated, she studied the notes. They weren’t too bad, and she could tell they belonged to a song with a not too fast beginning. She tried the keys out, and attempted to make out the tune. It was at the tip of her tongue…

“Ms. Salvatore?” someone asked, which immediately made her stop. She turned towards the door and saw Hope’s Uncle Elijah standing there, dusting off the door handle with a handkerchief.

“Hi Mr. Mikaelson,” Josie said, even though the man had already told her she could call him Elijah. She grabbed her crutches and said, “I didn’t mean to use your piano…”

“That’s quite alright,” he said, “A nice tune you played just now. I remember my niece used to be rather fond of that song, though I can’t recall the name…”  _ you and me both. _

“Uh yeah, she drew the notes on my cast, and I got curious,” Josie said, “But I should be going now, it’s getting kind of late.”

“It’s only five thirty,” he said, “The sun hasn’t set. You’re welcome to stay if you please.”

“That’s okay,” Josie said, “I was done anyway.” She grabbed her crutches and pulled herself back into a standing position. Elijah moved out of the way, holding the door for her as she went through. 

“I do hope I’ll see you back here,” he said before entering the room, and shutting the door behind him. Josie heard the startings of Funeral March a moment later. 

“Not likely, Elijah,” she said. She still wasn’t sure why she’d gone in the first place. She was heading back to her room when she saw Hope come out of the dining hall. She shook hands with Maya’s Mom, got a clap on the back from who Josie assumed was her brother, then waved goodbye to Maya as she left the building. Once she was gone, Josie heard her say,

“I’m gonna go check on Jo, I’ll see you guys later.”  _ Again, awkward. _ Hope was about to go to the infirmary, but Jade noticed Josie, so she tapped on Hope’s shoulder and nodded her head in Josie’s direction. Hope came up to her and said,

“Sorry that took so long. Do you want to go back to the infirmary?” Josie would have said yes, but the smell of mac and cheese coming from the dining room wasn’t lost on her, and she hadn’t eaten all day. She shyly looked over and said,

“In a bit, but if your offer to eat with you is still open, I am really hungry.”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Hope said, “Come on, I’ll help you with your plate.” 

Having dinner with Hope had been fun. Jade and Penelope hadn’t stayed, so it was just the two of them, and Josie actually thought it was nice. They were able to talk, and for once, it didn’t end in any kind of disagreement. Josie was able to admit that she’d had a good time. 

“We could do breakfast in the morning,” Hope said as she walked her to her room, “I usually go at around nine, if that’s cool with you?”

“Sounds great,” Josie said. Hope nodded and said,

“Cool, I’ll see you then.” She was about to head out, but Josie stopped her before she could.

“Hope,” she said. Her roommate turned back around, “I really am sorry. For earlier today. I was a mess, and I didn’t mean to put that on you.”

“Josie, it’s okay,” Hope said, “You don’t...you don’t have to pretend, especially when it comes to me. And you never have to apologize.” 

“You don’t either, you know,” Josie said, “I know I’m not exactly an open book, but I’m willing to try. If you are.” Hope looked down at her feet, and Josie blushed, “Unless, you don’t want-”

“No,” Hope said, cutting her off, “It’s not that. I want us to be friends, Josie. But um, you were right, too. Sometimes we can’t push.”  _ Oh. _

“I guess not,” Josie said, “Sorry for wasting your time, then.”

“You’re not,” Hope said, and that was when Josie noticed that Hope looked almost...scared? No, scared wasn’t the right word. She just looked like she  _ wanted _ to say more, but couldn’t. Josie definitely knew what that was like.

“It’s okay,” she said, “Take your time. I’ll take mine.” Hope looked up.

“Yeah?” she asked. Josie nodded.

“Yeah.” What happened next was probably the most unexpected thing Josie could have thought of. Hope came closer to her, and gave her a hug. It was a hug so tight that she felt like she was squeezing her, but Josie didn’t mind. She hadn’t gotten one like it in a long time. She hugged Hope back, resting her shoulder on her chin, and taking in the comfort that almost made up for her terrible, terrible day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this one! :)


	10. The Darkest Little Paradise

Hope had attempted to crack the egg gently, but it was a failed attempt since she ended up smashing it against the bowl, allowing for half the shell to get inside the bowl, and a good amount of egg getting all over the table.

“Shit!” she exclaimed. She was reaching in to try to pull the bits of shell out when she heard somebody ask,

“Are you even allowed to be here?” Hope turned and saw Josie. She looked like she’d just woken up-her hair was strewn all over her face-but she still wore a warm smile. A smile Hope had been starting to notice pop up more over the past few weeks.

“They don’t start breakfast until nine on Sundays, and I was hungry,” Hope said, “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be resting.”

“I got my cast off yesterday, I’ve been restless,” Josie said, “Plus, Dr. Robbins said my ankle is completely fine. I might move back into our room today.”

“Really?” Hope asked, nearly wincing at how excited she sounded. She cleared her throat and said, “Oh um, great. Doing all the cleaning by myself has been tiring.” 

“Sure,” Josie said, “And what exactly are you trying to make?”

“Pancakes,” Hope said, “Do you want one?” Josie’s gaze flitted over the egg shell in the bowl, “I’ll make a new thing of batter.” 

“Want me to help?” she asked. Hope nodded, and handed Josie the egg carton.

“It needs two eggs and a cup of milk,” she said, “I’ll get the flour.” Hope opened the cabinet to pull the bag out, and nearly dropped it in shock when she turned and saw Josie perfectly crack the egg on the side of the bowl using just one hand. 

“How did you…” she asked as Josie cracked the second egg with just as much ease, if not more. The girl blushed and said,

“My Mom and Lizzie were terrible in the kitchen, so my Dad used to ask me to cook with him. I learned how to make pancakes when I was five.”

“Like Matilda,” Hope said.

“Yeah, kind of,” Josie said, grabbing the milk and pouring it into the cup. She added it to the eggs, then Hope took over to add the flour.

“Can you heat the pan up?” Hope asked, pointing to it. Josie looked it over and said,

“Hope, this is a waffle iron.” Hope looked up in confusion, and nearly dumped half the bag of flour into the bowl. Josie grabbed the bag before it could fall. As she moved it to the side, Hope studied the iron in front of her.

“Huh, I must have taken this one out by mistake. I’ll get a pan from the back.”

“It’s cool,” Josie said, “I prefer waffles, anyway.”  _ Oh thank God. _ Hope had no clue where the pans were. One was usually always left out. She smiled at her and said,

“Yeah, me too.” Josie helped her measure the flour, and by the time they finished their waffles, the kitchen staff was coming in.

“We should get going.” Hope said as she finished wiping off the iron, “I’m not allowed in here, and I am trying to get in good enough graces with my parents to get my bike back.”

“How will we get out of here without them seeing us?” Josie asked.

“This way,” Hope said. She took Josie to the back of the kitchen, and opened the door to the storage cabinet, “This door leads outside, then we’ll just have to go around to get back in.”

“You do this a lot, don’t you?”  _ Yep. _

“I mean, I guess I do it occasionally,” Hope said nonchalantly, “Come on, we gotta go fast.” She found herself taking Josie’s hand as she led her into the storage room, then out of the building.

“Geez, it’s cold today,” Josie said, wrapping her arms around herself. Hope was dressed in her gym sweats, but Josie was just in a T-shirt and shorts. Plus, early mornings in September could be pretty brutal. Hope unzipped her jacket and said,

“Here, you can put this on.” 

“Are you sure? It’s not that long a walk,” Josie said. Hope nodded and pulled the jacket off.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Josie tentatively took the jacket from her, but she looked more comfortable as she slipped it on.

“Thanks,” she said.

“No problem,” Hope replied, “Come on, we can go this way.” She led Josie around the building, and when a harsh breeze came over, Hope noticed Josie inch closer to her, “Too cold?”

“Freezing,” Josie said, “Mystic Falls never gets cold until the end of October. At the earliest.”

“Spend a few more weeks here, you’ll get used to it,” Hope said, “And by the time you go back home, you’ll feel like you’re at the beach the whole time.” The smile faded from Josie’s face.  _ Shit. _

“Yeah. Home,” she said. Her voice sounded like it was gonna break. Hope opened her mouth to apologize, but Josie picked up the pace and walked away.

“Dammit,” Hope murmured. She picked up the pace to keep up with her, and caught up at the front door, but Josie slid in without holding it for her. Hope guessed she’d just ask for her jacket back later. She went inside, and was going to go back to her room, when her Dad found her.

“There you are, sweetheart,” he said, “Come with me. We need to talk.” 

“About?” Hope asked, looking up the stairs at Josie who was getting further and further away from her. She really needed to go apologize…

“I think you know,” he said, “Come along.” Hope held in a loud groan and followed her Dad to his office. He opened the door for her, and when she stepped in, she saw her Mom inside too. 

“Hey,” she said, “I went to your room to get you, but it was empty.”

“Josie and I were taking a walk outside,” Hope said, sitting in the chair across from her, “What’s this about?” 

“I’ve spoken to your Mother in depth over the past few weeks about the situation with Mr. Kirby,” Klaus said after closing the door, “And we have made some decisions.”

“Which are?” Hope asked. Her Dad sat down next to her Mom and said,

“Which are that I will be relinquishing my position,” he said, “Your Mother will be given full control of the school by the end of this semester.”

“What?” Hope asked, “But Dad, you and Mom started this school together! You can’t leave.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have much choice in the matter,” he said, “My main job which trumps being Headmaster is protecting you. This is what needs to be done.” 

“But it’s not fair that Landon gets to change things up like that!” Hope complained, “He promised me for  _ months _ that he would take the money and go. Why would he change his mind like that?”

“I don’t know, Hope. But I can assure you, we’re in no position to ask,” he said, “I know there is a rather large amount of animosity between you two, but nobody can deny that he and his family were hurt. We can’t just ignore that-”

“That’s a load of bull-” she started, but was cut off by her Mom saying,

“Hope!” Hayley snapped, “You need to listen to what he’s telling you.”

“But Mom-” she tried, but Hayley just shook her head and said,

“If Landon and his Mom wanted to, they could give us the money back, then sue the school for what happened. If they went that route, we’d get shut down. Everyone would be out of a job, and there would be some kids who would have nowhere to go. Is that what you want?” 

“Of course not-”

“Then stop trying to fight this, and let us handle it,” Hayley said, “Your safety, and the safety of the students has to come first. Do you understand?” Hope turned to her Dad, hoping he’d show some signs of wanting to fight this, but he remained quiet.

“Fine, whatever,” Hope said. She pushed away from the table, and got up to leave.

“Hope, we aren’t done here!” her Dad called after her, but she ignored him. She left the office, and debated going up to her room, but Josie was probably still mad, so she decided to give her roommate some time to herself. So she headed out the front door.

Hope kicked the ball towards the goal, wincing as it hit the rim and bounced right back at her. Josie’s playing skills were starting to rub off on her. The ball rolled to her feet, and she tried again. She kicked it harder that time, but she couldn’t get it in the goal.

“Has my star player been having difficulties?” she heard her Aunt ask. Hope turned to the woman and said,

“Yeah, something like that. What’s up?”

"Your Mother asked me to come find you. She’s quite upset with you for running out of that conversation like that.”

“I didn’t run out, I walked out,” Hope said, angrily kicking at the grass.

“Either way,” Rebekah said, “Come on back. You’ll catch pneumonia out here.”

“I don’t wanna go back,” Hope said, “My Mom and Dad are being ridiculous.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because-” Hope started to explain, but stopped herself. Her Dad had asked her not to tell anybody, and while she was mad at him, she still wanted to respect that, “Because they just are.”

“Is there anything you want to talk to me about?” Rebecca asked.  _ Yes, so much _ . But Hope just shook her head.

“I just wanna be alone right now,” she said, rolling the ball under her shoe. 

“Tell you what. Let’s play to 10, you and me. If I win, you head back to the school, but if you do, you can stay out here and brood.” 

“You know I’ll beat you easily,” Hope said.

“I’m  _ your _ coach. I’ve been playing this game since before you were born,” Rebekah said as she tied her hair up, “Thank God I didn’t wear heels today…”

“You’re gonna lose,” Hope said, kicking the ball so it was in the middle of the field.

“We’ll see. Ready?” Hope nodded, “Go!” She ran to the ball to get it, but her Aunt was fast. She got the ball right before Hope could, and she ran towards her goal.

“Dammit!” Hope exclaimed. She ran after her, and went to steal it, but Rebekah was a good long kicker. Twenty feet from the goal, and she made her shot.

“Ready to stop?” she asked.

“No way,” Hope said, “We just started.” She went to the ball, and ran it to the other side. Rebekah tried to steal it, but she used the same move as earlier, so Hope was able to score the point.

“Nice shot,” Rebekah commented.

“Yeah, and nine to go,” Hope said cockily. That was her mistake. Rebekah always told them before every game to never get too cocky. Over the next half hours, Rebekah made eight more shots, and Hope only made two.

“Ready to give up?” she asked, rolling the ball under her Sperrys. She was wearing goddamn  _ Sperrys _ and she was beating Hope!

“Not a chance,” Hope said. 9-3 wasn’t too bad. She’d come back from worse before. Rebekah even acted nice and rolled the ball towards her. She could easily get the next goal. She caught the ball, and made a run for it, but as she made the kick, it bounced of the rim again, “Fuck!” 

“That’s laps at practice,” Rebekah said in a half scolding, half teasing tone. She caught the flying ball, and since Hope was still stewing in her anger, she very easily kicked it into her goal, “Alright, that’s ten for me. Shall we head back?”

“Rematch?” Hope asked. Her Aunt shook her head and pointed to the building, “Oh fine.” She trudged miserably back to the school. She’d really lost a soccer game to someone in Sperrys. Sperrys!

“Hope, you are acting more grumpy than when you lost your first pick up game at five years old,” Rebekah said, “Are you sure there’s nothing we need to talk about?”

“Positive,” Hope lied. She opened the door to the school, and was about to go back to her Dad’s office, but she had to ask, “Do I really need to run laps on Monday?”

“Oh of course, I don’t go back on my word,” Rebekah said, which caused Hope to glare at her, “Go, they’re waiting for you.” 

“I hate all of you,” Hope said, but she still went to the office, reminding herself that it had now been six weeks without her bike. Oh how she missed it. She raised her hand to knock on the door, but she stopped herself when she heard her roommate’s name mentioned.

“What does Josette have to do with anything?” her Mom was asking. 

“You can’t tell me you haven’t been worried about pushing her away,” Klaus said, “You read Josette’s file, same as I did. Does it not worry you that she once had her family, but now…”

“I mean I care for all of our students deeply, you know that,” Mom said, “But like you said, we saw the file. Can you really blame Caroline for her reaction?”

“Of course I can,” Klaus said, “Josette is her daughter. It doesn’t matter what she does, there’s no right to shut her out like that.” 

“I know that,” Hayley said, “I’d never turn my back on Hope, and I know you wouldn’t either. You haven’t. And I think you worry that she doesn’t know that.” 

“I was...harsh with her last Spring,” he admitted, “We’re her parents, we’re allowed to be upset with her. But with what happened with Josette...what’s happened with a lot of students here…”

“You never thought something similar would happen with your own daughter?” 

“I wouldn’t call it similar…” Dad said, but Hope could hear his voice trail off. It was silent for a bit, but he continued with, “Anyway, the point is that you don’t turn away your family.”

“Yeah, always,” Hayley said, “That’s why we opened this school in the first place, for kids like Josette and even Landon who didn’t have anywhere else-”

“Yes, because accepting Landon was such a good decision-”

“Klaus,” Hayley said, “He needed us. They both did.”

“His brother was a sweet boy, wasn’t he?”  _ Yeah, he was _ , Hope thought. Twice the man Landon was. Not that he thought anything good of her right now…

“Indeed,” Klaus said. Hope heard her father take a breath before saying, “Sometimes I worry I’m doing everything wrong. When I look at files like Josette’s…”

“You’re not doing everything wrong. Given the circumstances, maybe you did things too right. And Caroline Salvatore...she’s just hurting from what happened. She needs more time, they both do.”

“I’m not sure if time will be enough,” Klaus said, “I received a letter from Mr. Salvatore last night. I’ve been meaning to discuss it with Josette, but I thought you and I should talk first.” 

“Yes of course, what did it say?” Unfortunately for Hope, her Dad didn’t read the letter out loud, but her Mom didn’t seem pleased when she was finished, “Oh my God…”

“He said he would speak with her, but I think it’s best if we speak Josette sooner than later. Preferably before I have to submit my resignation.” 

“Not just speak with her,” Hayley said, “There’s a big possibility that she doesn’t even know. Caroline and Stefan weren’t one hundred percent clear with the details, but that was what I inferred. I think we’ll need both of them here to explain.” 

“Explain,” Klaus said with a scoff, “Both of these parents are testing me.”

“Me too,” Hayley said, “But at least Stefan is trying.”

“Not hard enough,” Klaus said, “Josette feels alienated by her family enough as it is, how on earth do you imagine she’ll feel when she finds out that-” Klaus never finished his sentence, since Hope had been leaning against the door too hard. The door opened, and she fell right into the office, landing face first on the cold ground.

“Hope!” Hayley exclaimed, coming to help her up, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Hope said, dusting her sleeves off. A bruised pride was all. She looked at the letter her Dad was trying to put away. “What does that letter say? What’s going on with Josie?”

“How long were you out there?” Klaus asked.

“Long enough,” Hope said. She made a grab for the letter, but Hayley took hold of her arm before she could.

“Hope, that isn’t your business. It’s ours and Josettes.”

“Then why isn’t she here?” Hope asked, “I’ll go get her.” She shook her Mom’s arm away, and went to leave, but her Dad called her back.

“Hope,” he said, “Stay out of this, I mean it. This has nothing to do with you.”

“But what about Josie?” she asked, “What was in that letter that’s so bad? I can’t be around her knowing something bad will happen.”

“Nothing bad is going to happen to her, love,” Klaus said, “We just need to have a discussion with her and her parents about this letter, that’s all.” 

“You’re lying to me,” Hope said, “You both are. I thought we promised that we wouldn’t do that anymore.” Both her parents stayed quiet, “Screw this.”

“Don’t speak to us like that,” Mom said, “We’re not lying to you, we’re not telling you everything because of confidentiality. We’re  _ allowed _ to do that.” 

“But Josie deserves to know-”

“Josette will be well informed of everything she needs to know,” Klaus said, “Listen to your Mother when she says this doesn’t concern you.”

“But Dad-”

“That is enough back talk,” he said, “We are not asking you, we’re telling you. Do not talk about this with Josette or anybody else.”

“Or what?” Hope asked.

“Or we will suspend you,” Hayley said. Hope’s jaw nearly dropped. Suspend her? Over wanting to be honest with Josie? 

“You wouldn’t,” she sputtered out.

“We will,” Klaus said, “Do we have an understanding?”  _ The hell we do _ , Hope thought, but was smart enough not to say out loud. She shook her head and grumbled,

“Fine. But if something happens to Josie-”

“Nothing will,” Hayley said, “We promise.” Klaus nodded in agreement. Hope decided that this was as far as she was going to get, so she relented. 

“I’m holding you to that,” she said, pushing away from the table, “Can I leave now?” 

“You may,” Klaus said. Hope got up from the chair and left the office, not offering her parents any sort of goodbye. Her mind was racing trying to figure out what was in that letter. She cursed herself for falling against the door. She’d been so close! If she’d only lasted two more seconds...note to self, never lean against the door to eavesdrop.

She went up the stairs to her room. She needed to wrap herself in a blanket. It had been  _ way _ too cold outside. She opened the door to her room, and was nearly taken aback by how different it  looked. Well, her side looked the same. But Josie’s didn’t. 

She’d hung up some lights, she had a big “JS” on the wall behind her bed, her desk had books and binders stacked neatly, and she’d placed a rug on the floor next to her bed, with an assortment of pillows and blankets on it. 

The door to the bathroom opened, and Josie walked out, nearly jumping when she saw Hope.

“You scared me,” she said.

"My bad,” Hope said, “I was just looking at the room. It looks nice.”

“Thanks,” Josie said, “I brought this stuff in my suitcase with me when I first got here, but I didn’t feel like putting it up until now.”

“Well it looks great,” Hope said, “Really, I like it a lot.” Josie gave her a shy smile. She wrung her hands together and said,

“I know we said no more apologies, but I am sorry for freezing you out earlier. We were having a good time, and I ruined it.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Hope said, “I did. Me and my big mouth.”

“I know I wasn’t the best when I first got here,” Josie said, “But I don’t want you to be scared to talk to me. I might not be able to answer everything, but we agreed to try, so I want to.” 

“Josie-”

“I’ve made mistakes,” she continued, “Big, unforgivable mistakes. And when you mentioned home…” she trailed off, so Hope gently took her hand. Josie clasped it, took a breath, and continued with, “Sometimes I worry that my family doesn’t want me to come home.”  _ What if that was what the letter said? What if Josie was right? _

“Hope?” Hope looked up and realized her hand was shaking. She quickly dropped it from Josie’s and wiped it off on her sleeve, “Are you okay-”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, “Your family...they uh, I doubt they’d do that. Nothing you did could have been that bad…”

“I’m not so sure,” Josie murmured. She turned away, and went to her side of the room, where she absent mindedly picked at a thread on her pillow.  _ What did you do, murder someone? _ Hope wanted to ask, but she knew she couldn’t. She cleared her throat and said,

“Whatever happens, my family will keep you safe. You’ll never have to worry about not having a place to go.” Josie stopped with the pillow and said,

“That’s a nice sentiment, Hope. But at this point...I’ve learned not to be certain about anything. Nothing stays the same, everything changes eventually. You can’t just get comfortable in one place.” Hope wanted to say she was wrong, but with what she’d just learned about her Dad, how could she? 

Josie was sitting on the rug, so Hope joined her. She was comfortable the minute she sat down. Josie had packed a really soft rug!  _ Focus, Hope! _ she told herself.

“Yeah, I guess you can’t,” she said, “But things are good while they last, right?”

“Maybe,” Josie said, “But when they’re over, and you remember the way it was, you can’t help but wish you could change things, only to realize you just can’t.” 

“Trust me, I definitely know what that’s like,” Hope said, busying herself by running her fingers through the soft carpet. She could feel Josie’s fixed gaze on her, so she continued with, “What you said earlier about unforgivable mistakes...let’s just say you’re not the only one.”

“How do you move past it?” Josie asked, “How do you look yourself in the eye again and see the same person who was there before?”

“You don’t,” Hope said, pulling her knees in close, “You’ll never be the person you were before, no matter what you do. You can deflect, ignore, try to move on…”

“But you can’t,” Josie said, “And you never will.” Hope just nodded, “Life really sucks, huh?”

“Indeed,” Hope said, “But it’s not all bad. If you have the right people.” 

“I thought I had the right people,” Josie said, “I clearly didn’t.” 

“You have me,” Hope said, “I know that’s not a lot, but-”

“It’s enough,” Josie said, “Thank you, Hope. I know I haven’t always been the...easiest person to deal with, but you’ve always had my back. That really means a lot.” 

“Oh,” Hope said, “You really don’t have to thank me.”  _ Please don’t thank me. _

“I think I do,” she said, “You’ve been kind to me in a time where almost no one else has. I may be terrible at showing it, but I have appreciated it.” 

“And I’ve appreciated having you here.” At least she could be honest about that part, “Josie, I-” she was cut off when there was a knock on the door.

“Hope?” Penelope asked, “Jo? Are you guys in there?”

“Yeah, come in, Pen,” Hope said. The door opened and Penelope came in, followed by Maya who was holding a box, and Jade who had a plate of croissants.

“You two didn’t show up for breakfast, so we brought it to you,” Jade said, sitting down next to Josie on the rug. Josie took a croissant from the plate and said,

“Thanks. These might be my favorite thing you guys have down there.”

“Right?” Penelope asked around one, “Hope, do you want one?”

“Sure,” Hope said, taking the plate from Jade, “What’s in the box?”

“Oh, it might rain later, so we brought Heads Up to play,” Maya said, “I was against it of course, but these two practically begged me…”

“Oh please,” Jade said, “It was your idea.” Maya blushed and looked at her feet, which confirmed Jade’s statement.

“What’s Heads Up?” Josie asked. All four heads turned to her.

“You’ve never played Heads Up?” Jade asked, and Josie shook her head, “What, have you lived under a rock your whole life?”

“Jade!” Hope exclaimed. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. Jade opened the box and said,

“It’s easy. You pick a word and put it on your head, then you ask us questions to try to figure out what it is. So don’t look at it.”

“That doesn’t seem too bad,” Josie said, putting her headband on, “But somebody else should probably go first.” 

“I’ll go,” Penelope said. She put her word on her head. It was “kitten”, not too bad. But Penelope did always end up going way too specific when it came to questions.

“Am I something we talked about in English class last week?” she asked.

“Tell me you’re not being serious,” Maya said.

“Fine,” she said, “Am I made up of subatomic particles?”

“ _ Everything _ is made up of subatomic particles!” Jade exclaimed, and it was the same thing between all of them for what seemed like hours.

“Am I someone you can take on a date?” Penelope asked.

“No,” Jade said, the same time Josie said,

“Yep.” Everyone turned to Josie.

“Excuse me?” Maya asked. Hope was confused, and she really wanted Josie’s explanation.

“What?” she asked, “You totally can!”

“How on earth can you do that?” Jade asked.

“Well people eat dinner with their cats sometimes, so isn’t that a date?” Josie asked, which caused the whole room to erupt, “Oh crap-”

“Josie!” Jade exclaimed.

“Ten minutes down the drain,” Maya said, crossing her arms angrily.

“I’m sorry!” Josie exclaimed. Penelope pulled the card off and said,

“Well in Jo’s defense, it says kitten, not cat.” 

“Exactly,” Hope said in her roommate’s defense, which would have nearly started an argument with Maya had there not been a knock on the door. 

“Josette?” Hayley asked.

“Come in, Mom,” Hope answered for her. Hayley opened the door, poked her head in and said,

“Josette, Klaus and I need to have a word with you. Are you free to talk?” 

“Yeah,” she said, “Is everything okay?”  _ Yeah Mom, is it? _ Hope watched a sad look cross her Mother’s face, but it quickly disappeared as she said,

“Everything is fine. I’ll explain when we get downstairs.” Josie took her headband off and said,

“I’ll be right back.” She followed Hayley out of the room, and Hope attempted to swallow down a growing lump in her throat. She no longer felt up for a game. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked chapter 1! I'm alternating povs so up next is more of Hope!


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